Recent data released by the United Nations indicates that in 2024, approximately 739 million young people and adults still lacked basic reading and writing skills.
Today marks International Literacy Day. The date was established in 1967 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to raise awareness worldwide of the importance of literacy as a fundamental human right and a foundation for social, economic, and cultural development.
On this day, the world remembers literacy as a universal right that opens paths for everyone. It's a day to look at the numbers, but above all, at what they mean in people's lives. Recent data released by the United Nations indicates that in 2024, approximately 739 million young people and adults still lacked basic reading and writing skills.
The outlook is equally worrying in primary education: four in ten children do not reach minimum reading proficiency levels, while 272 million children and adolescents were out of school in 2023.
These figures reveal that, despite the progress made in several regions, universal access to education and literacy remains an unachieved goal. Each number represents someone who faces barriers to understanding a prescription, filling out a form, or simply reading a message. It represents children entering the future without the key to interpreting the world.
This year, the celebrations of International Literacy Day are under the motto "Promoting literacy in the digital age." This theme seeks to frame the challenges posed by digitalization in the way societies learn, work, and communicate.
The theme is also an invitation to reflect on how literacy is changing. Today, it is no longer limited to paper and pen. Reading and writing in the digital age also means knowing how to navigate complex information environments, distinguishing between credible and false, and creating and communicating confidently. Literacy has become a bridge connecting school and work, knowledge and citizenship, and local life to a global reality.
Celebrating International Literacy Day is a reminder that every open classroom, every literacy program, every shared book, and every reading lesson represent real steps toward more conscious societies. Literacy is the foundation of all learning and a link that unites generations in building the future.
(By Rafael Langa)
