International Literacy Day or World Literacy Day is celebrated every year on 8 September.
Theme of International Literacy Day 2021:
The theme of International Literacy Day 2021 was ‘Literacy for a human-centred recovery: Narrowing the digital divide’.
About ILD:
The 8th of September was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO in 1966.
The day is observed 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.
UNESCO International Literacy Prizes:
Since 1967, UNESCO International Literacy Prizes have rewarded excellence and innovation in the field of literacy.
Theme of International Literacy Prizes:
This year, International Literacy Prizes was celebrated under the theme “Inclusive distance and digital literacy learning”.
Two UNESCO International Literacy Prizes:
The UNESCO Confucius Prizes for Literacy 2021:
- ONG GA-TIC Côte d’Ivoire in Côte d’Ivoire for its programme: ‘Functional literacy for traders in Abidjan through the use of ICT’.
- Ain-Shams University in Egypt for its programme: ‘Ain Shams University experience in organizing online literacy classes for rural areas in Egypt’.
- Construyendo y Creciendo in Mexico for its programme: ‘Building & Growing’.
The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2021:
- ‘Broadcasting Bilingual Stories: Promoting interactive literacy programming in rural Guatemala’ of Limitless Horizons Ixil (LHI), Guatemala.
- ‘Enabling the education of people with disabilities through technology-enabled inclusive learning material, with specific focus on Indian Sign Language based content’ of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), India.
- ‘Using digital technologies to promote children’s literature in South Africa’s indigenous languages’ of Puku Children’s Literature Foundation, South Africa.
About the Indian Winner:
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), was awarded the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2021 at an event organized at UNESCO New Delhi.
NIOS was awarded the prize for its programme on ‘Enabling education of persons with disabilities (PWDs) through technology enabled inclusive learning material, with specific focus on Indian Sign Language (ISL) based content’.