International Literacy Day (ILD) is celebrated every 8 September, a date established since 1967 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to highlight the importance of literacy in creating a more literate, just and peaceful society. This year, the Day was organised under the theme ‘Promoting Multilingual Education: Literacy for Mutual Understanding and Peace’.
According to Unesco data, at least one in seven young people and adults worldwide still lacks basic literacy and numeracy skills. In 2022, 70% of ten-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries could not read and understand simple text.
Today in Argentina, as national and international assessments (PISA and Aprender) show, almost 35% of 3rd grade students cannot read or write and are not able to perform basic mathematical operations. In addition, around 50% of students are not able to understand a text of basic complexity at the end of primary school, which contributes to the very high dropout rate in secondary school and the poor performance of thousands of students.
In this sense, President Javier Milei launched the National Plan Federal Commitment to Literacy to reverse the current literacy indicators, focusing on the first cycle, where statistics show that 46 per cent of students do not reach the minimum level of reading comprehension in primary school.
The National Literacy Plan is a priority instrument for Argentina to emerge from decadence and for all students in the country to be able to read, understand and produce texts according to their age. ‘Reading and writing is not just another educational content, but the essential learning tool that every child has, it is what makes any other learning possible,’ said President Javier Milei during the launch of this Plan. In addition, the National Government, together with other blocks, promoted the declaration of education as an essential service to ensure that schools remain open and guarantee 180 days of classes throughout the country.
The literacy problem puts the entire education system in crisis as it impacts on higher education, on the world of work, on the constitution of citizenship and on the life projects of millions of Argentines. That is why today, September 8th, we commemorate World Literacy Day to remember the need to formulate policies and redouble our efforts to make the right to education a reality for all.
