WORLD LITERACY DAY :: For " DIGNITY " And " RESPECT " - Need for intensified efforts towards more literate societies


Pic - :: WORLD LITERACY DAY :: Literacy for individuals, communities and society 

International Literacy Day 2021: 

 September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO in 1966 to remind the international community of the importance of literacy for individuals, communities and societies, and the need for intensified efforts towards more literate societies

" The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all.  This was what it is and this was what it was stated and said by the UNESCO Director-General

Even in the times of global crisis, efforts have been made to find alternative ways to ensure the continuity of learning, including distance learning,  online learning , often in combination with in-person learning. Access to literacy learning opportunities, however, has not been evenly distributed. The rapid shift to distance learning also highlighted the persistent digital divide in terms of connectivity, infrastructure, and the ability to engage with technology, as well as disparities in other services such as access to electricity, which has limited learning options.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of International Literacy Day and UNESCO is celebrating it under the banner “ Reading the Past, Writing the Future ”. International Literacy Day 2016 was celebrated when this had celebrated it’s GOLDEN JUBILEE and what a way of celebration was it. It  celebrated and honoured the past five decades of national and international engagement, efforts and progress were  made to increase literacy rates around the world. It also addresses current challenges and looks to innovative solutions to further boost literacy in the future.

Exploration :: New Method to Build A Solid Foundation For Literacy – No One To Be Left Behind

International Literacy Day (ILD) 2021 will explore how literacy can contribute to building a solid foundation for a human-centred recovery, with a special focus on the interplay of literacy and digital skills required by non-literate youth and adults. It will also explore what makes technology-enabled literacy learning inclusive and meaningful to leave no one behind. By doing so, ILD2021 will be an opportunity to reimagine future literacy teaching and learning, within and beyond the context of the pandemic.

Fifty years ago, UNESCO officially proclaimed 8 September International Literacy Day to actively mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies.

The 2030 Education Agenda

Now International Literacy Day is celebrated worldwide, bringing together governments, multi- and bilateral organizations, NGOs, private sectors, communities, teachers, learners and experts in the field. On this day also International Literacy Prizes are awarded to people with outstanding solutions that can drive literacy towards achieving the 2030 Education Agenda. This year the focus is on innovation.

The 8th of September was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO in 1966 to remind the international community of the importance of literacy for individuals, communities and societies, and the need for intensified efforts towards more literate societies. The issue of literacy is a key component of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The U.N.Sustainable Devlopement Agenda - ::

The UN's Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted by world leaders in September 2015, promotes universal access to quality education and learning opportunities throughout people’s lives. Sustainable Development Goal 4 has as one of its targets ensuring all young people achieve literacy and numeracy and that adults, who lack these skills are given the opportunity to acquire them

It was 2016 and thus it was the first year of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context the vision of literacy is aligned with lifelong learning opportunities with special focus on youth and adults. Literacy is a part of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to for the  “ ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all ”. The target is that by 2030 all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy (SDG Target 4.6).

On 15 November 2019 at UNESCO’s 40th General Conference in Paris, the Member States agreed to adopt a new UNESCO Strategy for Youth and Adult Literacy (2020-2025).

For UNESCO’s Education Sector, constituted by its Headquarters, its institutes, and field offices around the world, this Strategy will be a guiding framework for the promotion of youth and adult literacy in the coming years.

Identified by the Member States, key partners and literacy experts through consultations, the new literacy strategy has four strategic priority areas:

  • Supporting Member States in developing national literacy policies and strategies;
  • Addressing the learning needs of disadvantaged groups, particularly women and girls;
  • Leveraging digital technologies to expand access and improve learning outcomes;
  • Monitoring progress and assessing literacy skills and programmes.

The Strategy will facilitate UNESCO’s targeted support to countries and populations that are facing the biggest literacy challenges in the world. These include, but are not limited to, the 29 member countries of the Global Alliance for Literacy within the Framework of Lifelong Learning (GAL) that is coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. The Alliance includes 20 countries with an adult literacy rate below 50 percent, and the E9 countries, a consortium of the 9 most populous countries, which are home to over a half of the world’s population.

The Strategy also focuses on gender equality and addresses the learning needs of marginalized peoples, including out-of-school youth, refugees, migrants and indigenous peoples who are part of the 750 million adults around the world who lack basic literacy skills. The Strategy will also aim to strengthen and encourage cooperation among these countries to share best practices of promoting literacy in a lifelong learning perspective.

The new Strategy is aligned with the sole intention of a modified and a scientific methodology combined with digitilisation, of imparting the lessons  and Education. The  2030 Agenda  is to mobilize stronger political and financial commitment to equal and equitable access to quality education to leave no one behind.

 The International Literacy Day 2021  will be celebrated all around the world. The main global celebration of the day will take place at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris in the form of a two-day conference on 8 - 9 September, the highlight of which will be the awarding of the Literacy Prizes. At the same time the Global Alliance for Literacy (GAL) will be launched, a new and ambitious initiative to make all major stakeholders pull together to promote literacy as a foundation for lifelong learning.

This is the importance of the day and this makes it very important as the day

Well , that is it and That sums it all.

Regards and Thanks

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Shyamal Bhattacharjee 

Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in    B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a      Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It  published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta  in 2012. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing .




 

 

 

 

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