International Literacy Day 2021: History, importance, theme, celebration this year

NEW DELHI: International Literacy Day 2021 will be celebrated today across the globe. This day is celebrated every year on September 8 to remind the world of the importance of literacy for every individual, society and nation and the need to make efforts toward making more literate communities.

World Literacy Day 2021: History

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared September 8 the International Literacy Day in the year 1966. In 1967, the World Literacy Day was celebrated for the first time.

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World Literacy Day Theme 2021

This year, the theme for the International Literacy Day is “Literacy for a human-centred recovery: Narrowing the digital divide”.

According to UNESCO, about 773 million youth and adults lack basic literacy skills. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the inequalities in access to literacy learning opportunities. While efforts have been made to have continuity in learning such as online education or distance learning; it has further led to a digital divide. Many do not have access to the internet or even electricity.

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“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,” UNESCO said on its official website.

UNESCO believes that literacy drives sustainable development and is central to a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

International Literacy Day 2021 celebration

This year, on World Literacy Day 2021, UNESCO is hosting a webinar online from September 8 to September 9 at webcast.unesco.org/events/2021-09-ILD/. Interested participants can register through the official website of UNESCO.

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Every year, UNESCO confers international literacy prizes to programmes which promote literacy during its official ceremony. This year, two prizes will be given to three programmes each.

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