International Literacy Day - Prerna Rathod

International Literacy Day is celebrated every year on 8th September. Its main aim of this day is to highlight the importance of literacy to all individuals, communities and societies. Several initiatives are taken by the Government and people from educational background to highlight the improvement in world literacy rates and reflect on the remaining literacy challenges.

International Literacy Day was declared by UNESCO on 26th 1966 at 14th session of it’s General

conference. The first time it was celebrated in 1967. The scale of literacy is very low in the world. So this day was started keeping in mind the importance of literacy which is a matter of dignity and human rights. The basic aim is that each individual acquires the basic skill of reading and writing. If people are educated then, they can live a proper life, earn a livelihood for living, contribute to society, country and world in promoting peace, eradicating poverty, removing gender inequality, and many more. Every year different themes are used to celebrate this day. Some previous year’s themes were “The Power of Women’s Literacy”, “Literacy and Health” and “Literacy for Peace”, “Literacy and Multilingualism”.

This day is celebrated both at national and local levels at various schools, NGOs and community centres. Events like great authors are invited to speak; competitions are organized for children so they can earn scholarships as a reward and get a chance to attend school.

This year’s theme is “Literacy Teaching and Learning in the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond”. It lays emphasis on the role of educators and changing pedagogies. The main focus is on youths and adults. There were many loopholes in our education system and with Covid-19 crisis education was affected a lot. Due to these programmes were developed which could be used during pandemic time and beyond.

If the literacy rate increases not only the individual’s future is brightened but also the nation’s development and growth increases.

Prerna Rathod
The Fabindia School
prd@fabindiaschools.in 

Samudra Manthan in the month of Shravan - Rajeshree Shihag

Fourteen divine items and amrita, the drink of immortality emerged out of the ocean. Halahala; a deadly poison came out as a by-product and Lord Shiva gained the name of Neelkantha. This story resonates very well with our education system and with our prized educators. An education system which had been yearning for a step up went on a massive churn in the last three months; the churn is still on. Teachers transformed overnight into 21st Century Educators and voyage continues.

Teachers even at the remotest of the locations transformed into tech-savvy Educators. Domestic help disappeared, dusting, mobbing, sweeping became a daily affair, dining out disappeared, elaborate meals, multi-cuisine everything was served at home by the same teacher who learnt the skills of teaching from home. Data ran out of the count, health issues seeped in by countless hours of screen time. The family took them for granted as they had no salaries to contribute. No one has been able to figure out the turmoil the teacher has been going through. 

The Halahala poison, which was consumed by Shiva symbolizes suffering and the pain he went through to save the universe. The teachers played a heroic role in this educational transformation with the intent to upscale the learning opportunities provided through Online Classes. The qualities of Lord Shiva reverberate with the qualities of a teacher; their courage to embrace change, compassion for school kids withstanding the chaos at home, willingness to learn and plunge into initiatives ensuring that none are left behind. 

Rajeshree Shihag 
The Fabindia School
rsg@fabindiaschools.in