World Literacy Day 2017 is being celebrated today i.e. 8th of September 2017. The 51st World Literacy Day focuses on Literacy in a Digital World, how digitisation has evolved literacy across the globe and who’s done a commendable job to deserve the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes.
World Literacy Day 2017’s UNESCO International Literacy Prizes are going to be awarded to Laureates from five countries namely Canada, Colombia, Jordan, Pakistan and South Africa. Each country will be represented by a Laureate who will be honored with a medal and the prize money.
The focus of the meeting will be on spreading inclusive and unbiased quality education along with lifelong learning for all. As per Irina Bokova - Director-General, UNESCO, “Digital technologies permeate all spheres of our lives, fundamentally shaping how we live, work, learn and socialise,”.
Irina Bokova stressed on the fact that the way digital transformation is happening it is going to create a huge advancement however the ones who do not possess the digital skills will be marginalised badly in the process. “These new technologies are opening vast new opportunities to improve our lives and connect globally—but they can also marginalise those who lack the essential skills, like literacy, needed to navigate them.” added Bokova.
The prize distribution ceremony will commence at 5PM this evening and the following International Literacy Prizes will be awarded to countries as mentioned below:
1. UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize
The King Sejong Literacy Prize is dedicated to mother-tongue literacy education and training. The prize is sponsored by the Republic of Korea.
It will be awarded to ‘Centre for the Study of Learning & Performance (CSLP)’ at Concordia University (Canada)for leveraging educational technology to develop essential educational Competencies in Sub-Saharan Africa project. The project develops and distributes its learning material internationally free of charge.
The second country to win the King Sejong Literacy Prize is Jordan for program named ‘We Love Reading’. The programme offers online read-aloud trainings for parents brought together in a virtual community. ‘We Love Reading’ project encourages volunteers to Read Aloud in public spaces to children and endows age-appropriate reading material through its digital library.
2. UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy
The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy rewards those who benefit rural populations and out-of-school youth, girls and women in particular. This award is funded by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
It will be awarded to 3 countries, the first one being awarded to ‘AdulTICoProgram of the Secretariat of Information and Communications Technologies’ from Armenia (Colombia). The institution has been selected for teaching digital competencies to seniors.
The second one on the list is ‘The Citizens Foundation’ from Pakistan. The foundation runs ‘Aagahi Literacy Programme’ for women and out-of-school girls and conducts digital educational needs assessments and provides teaching services to support the education of younger girls and older women in the country.
Last but not the least, the award will go to ‘FunDza’ based out of South Africa for its readers and writers project that focuses to develop a culture of reading and writing for pleasure through an online platform that provides reading programs and writing competitions while bringing together readers and writers.
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