International Literacy Day (ILD) 2020 will focus on Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond with a focus on the role of educators and changing pedagogies. The theme will highlight literacy learning from a lifelong learning perspective and will mainly focus on youth and adults. The recent COVID-19 crisis has been a stark reminder of the existing gap between policy discourse and reality: a gap that already existed in the pre- COVID-19 era and is negatively affecting the learning of youth and adults who have no or low literacy skills and therefore tend to face multiple disadvantages. During Covid-19, in many countries, adult literacy programmes were absent in the initial education response plans, so the majority of adult literacy programmes that did exist were suspended with just a few courses continuing virtually, through TV and radio, or in open air spaces. What is the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on youth and adult literacy educators and teaching and learning? What are the lessons learnt? How can we effectively position youth and adult literacy learning in global and national responses and strategies for the recovery and resilience-building phase?
By exploring these questions, International Literacy Day 2020 will provide an opportunity to reflect on and discuss how innovative and effective pedagogies and teaching methodologies can be used in youth and adult literacy programmes during this pandemic and beyond. The Day will also give an opportunity to analyse the role of educators, as well as effective policies, systems, governance and measures that can support educators in providing effective instruction and learning. Through a virtual conference, a collective global discussion will be initiated to reimagine the literacy teaching and learning of youth and adults in the post-COVID-19 era towards the achievement of the SDG4.
Register for the UNESCO online event on International Literacy Day
More on International Literacy Day 2020
Further information
UNESCO/UIL COVID-19 issue notes Unlocking the potential of family and intergenerational learning and Open and distance learning to support youth and adult learning
UIL Website on Literacy
