International Literacy Day 2020: how Covid has transformed learning

The 8th of September is commemorated as International Literacy Day every year. It was recognised by UNESCO back in 1966, at the 14th session of the General Conference and seeks to highlight the importance of literacy as a matter of human rights and dignity in society.

Keeping the Covid-19 outbreak in mind, the theme for 2020 is 'Literacy teaching and learning in the Covid-19 crisis and beyond'. It sheds light on the role of educators in transforming the way knowledge is being imparted in the wake of the health crisis and the changing pedagogies that come with it. To celebrate the day, the United Nations this year is organising virtual seminars and talks to answer important questions.

The pandemic spelt a major blow for children in specific, with schools shut around the world. As per data from the World Literacy Foundation, 1.27 billion children and youth were impacted. While learning has shift to digital platforms, not everyone has access to these.

Despite attempts at progress, recent consensus shows that approximately 775 million adults globally lack basic literacy skills today. Among them, a startling 60.7 million children are either out of school or rarely attend it.