At the fourteenth session of UNESCO’s general conference in 1966, the first International Literacy Day was declared and since then it has been celebrated annually on September 8, in an effort to highlight the importance of literacy for the people and communities of all the world.
According to a recent consensus, around 775 million adults lack the minimum education required to be literate and of these, 60.7 million children do not attend school or have few attendants. According to the UNESCO Global Monitoring Report on Education for All (2006), South Asia has the lowest regional adult literacy rate, at 58.6%, and the causes of this illiteracy range from poverty extreme and prejudice against women.
This day is celebrated in an effort to combat these problems and provide a quality education for all. Over the years, the United Nations (UN) has given this day special themes in keeping with the current environment. From ‘Literacy and health’, ‘Literacy and epidemics’, which focused on communicable diseases like HIV, to ‘Literacy and empowerment’ and ‘Literacy and peace’ a few years later. For the year 2020, the theme has remained in line with the threat of the global Covid-19 pandemic and focuses on “Teaching and learning literacy in the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.”
It may seem redundant at this point, but the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the proper flow of our society as a whole. For children primarily, their education has been severely disrupted as most schools around the world have been closed since the start of the pandemic. According to the World Literacy Foundation, founded in 2003, more than 190 countries closed their schools, affecting the education of approximately 1.27 billion children and youth.
This year’s celebration will shed light on “the role of educators and changing pedagogies.” Think of literacy from the perspective of a lifelong experience, hence its importance to youth and adults. “During COVID-19, in many countries, adult literacy programs were absent from initial education response plans, so most of the adult literacy programs that existed were discontinued, and only some courses they continued virtually, through television and radio, or outdoors. spaces “.
Most classes and lectures are held online and while that makes a difference, the question of what the future holds in terms of the educational process is unknown. In celebration of International Literacy Day, the UN is organizing seminars and online talks that address these relevant issues. Two meetings will be held, one on ‘Teaching and Learning Literacy in the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond: The Role of Educators and Changing Pedagogies’ and another on’ Recipients of the International Literacy Awards from UNESCO 2020 ‘.
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