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| Sidelights on the History of International Literacy Day |
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The
International Literacy Prizes 1966-2000
Each year from 1966
UNESCO has celebrated INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY with the aim to
sensitize and mobilize international public opinion and to elicit their
interest and active support for literacy activities – one of UNESCO’s
major preoccupations since its first General Conference in 1946. On this
day, the Director-General of UNESCO addresses a message to the world,
appealing to individuals, organizations and states to demonstrate their
support and solidarity for literacy and to promote non-formal education
for all, particularly for those who have been excluded from the school
system.
This annual celebration
started following a recommendation of the World Conference of Ministers of
Education on the Eradication of Illiteracy which met in Tehran in
September 1965. The Conference recommended that 8 September, the date of
the inauguration of the Conference, be proclaimed International
Literacy Day and be observed world-wide. The Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran proposed that UNESCO award an international literacy
prize for meritorious work in the struggle against illiteracy, and created
the Mohammed Reza Pahlavi Prize (1967-1978) which was, from 1967 to
1969, the only literacy award presented.
Two other prizes, the Nadezhda
K. Krupskaya Prize (1970-1991) and the Iraq Literacy Prize
(1989-1991) were awarded for 19 years and 11 years respectively.
At present five
international literacy prizes are awarded each year:
- The International
Reading Association Literacy Award, created in 1979 by the
International Reading Association, a non-governmental organization
- The Noma Literacy
Prize created in 1980 by the late Shoichi Noma, President of
Kodansha Ltd., Publishers
- The two King
Sejong Literacy Prizes created in 1989 by the Government of the
Republic of Korea to commemorate a king who invented, more than 500
years ago, an alphabet consisting of 22 easy to learn letters
- The Malcolm
Adiseshiah International Literacy Prize created in 1998 by the
Government of India to commemorate the late Malcolm Adiseshiah, former
Deputy Director-General of UNESCO and Chairman of the International
Literacy Prize Jury.
The three categories of
recognition awarded are:
- The five Prizes
consisting of a cheque for US $15,000, a silver medal and a diploma
- Honourable Mentions
consisting of a diploma and a bronze medal
- Recognitions by
the Jury in the International Literacy Prize award list
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"Literacy.
Without it…words have no meaning.
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