Eyo Willie in his Study.
By Eyo Willie
Since 1967 The International Literacy Day celebration occurs on the 9th of September every year.
The Theme for 2023, is captioned, PROMOTING LITERACY FOR A WORLD IN TRANSITION: BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE AND PEACEFUL SOCIETIES.
The importance of literacy as it affects human development cannot be overemphasised.
It’s the most powerful and viable instrument for developing and empowering the citizens to master the social and natural environment, and compete for survival.
A nation’s strength largely lies in the quantity and quality of her human resources. Literacy is the pivot on which development rotates and a fundamental capability building measure for sustainable development.
A critical appraisal of the theme for this year’s celebration (Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies), unfolds the very essence of the moment, as it has to do with the global challenges confronting many nations of the world.
Many nations of the world are faced with unending literacy challenges, especially among the women.
A world in transition, is a world of continuous change; change transforms living, and living transforms life.
A world where literacy is denied is a world of mediocrity, none achievements and underdevelopment.
Literacy over the years has assumed a wider scope in terms of operations, and has therefore gone beyond an individual’s ability to read and write.
In today’s world, literacy is seen as a right and the foundation for all further learning.
Literacy gives people the tools, knowledge, and confidence to improve their livelihoods, to participate more actively in their societies and make informed choices.
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE AND PEACEFUL SOCIETIES.
This by my understanding is the need of the moment, as it will afford people the opportunity to join efforts to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4), on education and life long learning, and to reflect on the role of literacy in building more inclusive, peaceful, just, and sustainable societies;,by so doing, it will embrace the reciprocal relations between literacy and other areas of development.
Literacy is central to the creation of such societies, while progress in other areas of the development contributes to generating interest and motivation of people to acquire, use, and further develop their literacy and numeracy skills.
Each year’s celebration comes with a unique theme echoing the development and goals of the era.
For 2023, the focus is being laid on:
A ticket for freedom.
A voice in the community and
A bridge to opportunity.
Why has literacy become a Phenomenon?
This has become very imperative due to the critical role literacy plays in creating and generating opportunities for people to be delivered from the clutches of illiteracy and mediocrity.
Research findings in literacy development around the world records an alarming proportion of over 775 million adults who struggle with basic literacy, two thirds of this figure being women.
Celebrating literacy day is a brilliant way to raise awareness of the values of literacy and encourage children and adults alike to develop their literacy skills.
What life would be without the privilege as having the ability to read and write? As it empowers children and adults.
LITERACY HAS BECOME A METAPHOR IN HUMAN AFFAIRS.
Literacy is morality.
Literacy is consumption.
Literacy is pleasure.
Literacy is economic well being.
Literacy is purity.
Literacy is empathy.
Literacy is peace.
As the world celebrate today, we in PENIEL LIBRARY add our heartfelt congratulations to the UNESCO family for their untiring efforts towards the promotion of this laudable programme which has helped to add value to the human development indices.
Eyo Willie is an author and a readership promotion strategist, writes in from Abuja.
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