EDUCATIONAL institutions and literacy missions around the world commemorates the International Literacy Day on September 8. Endorsed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), this day is proclaimed for disseminating literacy awareness amongst world’s illiterate community.

Recognition of Literacy by UN
Adopted in the year 1965 by UNESCO, International Literacy Day is observed every year, on this day with a new mission.
Since its very inception, this day became a special occasion to mark literacy awareness and many educational programmes featured this particular day in their year round events. But in the year 1990, the United Nations General Assembly provided a bolster to global literacy by proclaiming the year as International Literacy Year.
The special year marked the ongoing commitment of the world community to boost and support literacy as a key to personal progress and to the socio-economic development of nations.
International Literacy Day 2009 theme is: ‘The Power of Literacy’. It means this year the focus will be on the empowerment of literacy and its importance for participation, social progress and citizenship.

What literacy is all about?
The definition of literacy and a literate person is vast according to UNESCO. A literate person is one, who can, with understanding, both read and write a short statement relevant to routine life, and capable of analytical understanding of men’s condition in the world.
Literacy is a means of personal liberation and development and delivering individuals educational efforts.
It is a method of achieving faculties to develop their economic status and general well being and inculcating values of national integration, conservation of surroundings, fairer sex’s equality, observance of standard family tradition, etc.

Why literacy is important?
Literacy is not just about educating, it is a unique and powerful tool to eradicate poverty and a strong means for social and human progress. The focus of literacy lies in acquiring basic education for all, eradicating poverty, reducing infant mortality, simmering down population growth, reaching gender equality and ensuring constant development, peace and democracy.
There are sufficient reasons why literacy is the centre of Education for All (EFA). A good quality basic education equips people with literacy potentials for life and further learning; literate parents are inclined to send their children to school; literate people are prone to access continuing educational opportunities; and educated societies are better geared to keep pace with the pressing development.
Hence literacy is considered as an effective way to enlighten a society and arm it to facing the challenges of life in a stronger and efficient way, raise the level of personal living, create and assist change in the society.

Alarming Statistics
Despite many and multifarious efforts, the literacy rate across the world looks alarming.
UNCESO statistics indicate that literacy remains an elusive target: some 759 million adults lack minimum literacy skills, which means that one in five adults is still not literate; and 72 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.
According to a United Nations (UN) analysis, almost 35 countries have a literacy rate of less than 50 per cent and a population of more than 10 million people who are illiterate. Eighty five per cent of the world’s illiterate population dwells in these countries, and two-thirds are fairer sex.

Total Literacy Requires Collective Efforts
Besides some customary bottlenecks have being observed in some under developed countries like population blast, lack of proper infrastructure and other factors, the grave backlash of the present economic crunch has also cut down the pace of the total literacy drive.
According to the UN, it calls for combine parallel efforts, sufficient resources and endeavor, strategies, and continued analysis of the developmental work revised political will and for accepting to do things differently at all levels – locally, nationally and trans-nationally.
Source:  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)