UNESCO founded the International Literacy Day in 1966 to highlight the necessity of literacy to access fundamental human rights. It's defined as "the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials".
The relationship between education and poverty is clear, as illiterate people have more chances to face poverty, health problems, and isolation due to our growing dependence on computers.
The theme this year is “Promoting literacy in the digital era.”
Digitalisation has been changing ways in which we learn, live, work and socialise, in both positive and negative ways, depending on how we engage with it. While digital tools can help expand learning opportunities for marginalised groups, including 739 million young people and adults who lack basic literacy skills, this digital shift also risks creating double marginalisation – exclusion not only from traditional literacy learning but also from the benefits of the digital age.
For the children I teach who do have the opportunity to be very literate, perhaps today is a good day to look at children's lives in other parts of the world or combine it with World Lit Month activities. September is World Kid Lit Month, the time to explore international books for young people. It’s the perfect time to read a children’s book from or set in another country, or a book translated into English from another language.
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