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The International Jury of the met in early to July to deliberate the nominations submitted to UNESCO from around the world related to this year’s theme ‘Inclusive distance and digital literacy learning’, with a particular focus on youth and adult literacy.

Composed of , the International Jury identified six innovative literacy programmes that have distinguished themselves through particularly remarkable initiatives that provide inclusive distance and digital literacy learning.  The Jury will submit its assessment of nominations and recommendations to the Director-General who will select the laureates.

In the opening session, the Jury members shared their reflections on the thematic focus of this year.

Mr Ngaka, Senior Lecturer in the College of Education and External Studies at Makerere University, Uganda, reminded us that many people have been disconnected from the global world because of the digital divide, and thus it is important to highlight interventions that focus not only on promoting literacy but that emphasize the inclusion of less represented people. Ms Dajani, Professor at Hashemite University in Jordan, visiting professor at University of Richmond and Ms Xie Zheping, Associate Professor of Education at the Institute of Education underlined the importance of programmes that are designed and implemented by local communities. “We want to hear the people’s voice because they know better what their problems are and therefore their solutions”, exclaimed Ms Dajani.

Mr Benseman, an adult literacy expert from New Zealand with over 40 year-experience, and Chair of this year Jury and Mr Cho, Professor of Department of Korean language and literature and Vice Director of Institute of Language and Information Studies at Yonsei University, Republic of Korea, stressed the importance of involving learners from vulnerable contexts, including those living in the most hard-to-reach areas.

Ms Zheping and Ms Dajani also added the importance of using innovation through technology, especially during the current crisis, while the importance of sustainability of programmes was raised by Ms Xie Zheping.

Distance learning, often in combination with in-person learning, has proven to be one of the most frequent responses to the learning challenges during the COVID-19 crisis. Yet access to such learning opportunities have not been evenly distributed. To sustain and intensify efforts in reimagining inclusive distance and digital literacy learning, UNESCO chose this theme for the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2021.

The laureates’ work will feed into International Literacy Day 2021 which will be celebrated on 8 September under the theme, ‘Literacy for human-centred recovery: Narrowing the digital divide’ across the world. At the global level, two online webinars will be organized on 8-9 September with the participation of all six laureates. The 6 laureates of the 2021 edition UNESCO International Literacy Prizes will be officially presented during a virtual global celebration.

Since 1967, UNESCO International Literacy Prizes have rewarded excellence and innovation in the field of literacy to support effective and innovative literacy practices, and promote dynamic literate societies to bridge the global literacy challenges faced by a number of children, youth and adults, including 773 million youth and adults who lack basic literacy skills.

The two International Literacy Prizes are: the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize, established in 1989, with the support of the Government of the Republic of Korea, gives special consideration to the mother language-based literacy development. The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, established in 2005, with the support of the Government of the People’s Republic of China. It is dedicated to functional literacy, leveraging technological environments, in support of adults in rural areas and out-of-school youth.

Photo: Mukesh Kumar Jwala/Shutterstock.com