International Literacy Day 2022: Know history, theme, facts

International Literacy Day 2022: International Literacy Day is celebrated every year on September 8 to mark the importance of literacy in an individual's life and for a society as a whole.  On this day, people spread awareness worldwide about literacy and its impact in building the community for better. The meaning of the word 'literate' means the ability to read and write. Hence, literacy is the way forward to education and literacy is the first step to accomplish the mission of having an educated community.

International Literacy Day: History

On 26 October 1966, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared September 8 as International Literacy Day at the 14th General Conference session. The first Literacy day was celebrated in 1967 which became a reminder for humanity to take literacy as a foundation for human rights and dignity. Therefore, literacy is the way forward to a well-learned and efficient society.

International Literacy Day 2022: Theme

UNESCO declared ‘Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces’ as this year's theme for the International Literacy Day 2022.

It further stated that this will be an “opportunity to rethink the fundamental importance of literacy learning spaces to build resilience and ensure quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all.”

International Literacy Day 2022: Facts

After the shadow of the pandemic loomed large on us, "nearly 24 million learners might never return to formal education, out of which, 11 million are projected to be girls and young women", as per UNESCO data.  

According to UNESCO, despite tireless progress made, "literacy challenges persist with at least 771 million young people and adults lacking basic literacy skills today".

"To ensure no one is left behind, we need to enrich and transform the existing learning spaces through an integrated approach and enable literacy learning in the perspective of lifelong learning", UNESCO added.

According to the 2011 census of India,  the literacy rate in the country is 74.04 per cent and 82.14 and 65.46  for males and females respectively. Kerala tops the list with a 93.91 per cent literacy rate, closely followed by Lakshadweep (92.28 per cent) and Mizoram (91.58 per cent), as per government data.