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| Art Card by Mika Orolfo |
However, limited and often restricted access to bridging education and literacy to students is a major crisis that happens daily. If this issue continues without progress, what hope is left for our future, especially the youth’s?
Celebrating the International Day to Protect Education from Attack and International Literacy Day in the month of September serves as a reminder that this occurring crisis needs a call for action in which communities around the globe should look into.
This September 9, we celebrate the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, which ensures a safe learning environment for students amidst violence.
Established on May 28, 2020 by the UN General Assembly, both UNESCO and UNICEF aims to shed light how the the continuous conflicts and hazards in multiple regions of the world are highly affecting the educational sector of communities— schools, institutions, libraries, and more places that serves as a shelter to foster knowledge and hone skills are constantly in danger to banish.
This year marks the fifth year since the resolution to respect education’s right and protection from zones of conflict and other barriers was made, wherein UNESCO will be commemorating the event for 2024 in Doha and Geneva. The global urge for officials to constantly recognize and work on safeguarding education against violence are honored on this day.
Words as tools for improvement
Alternatively, this September 8, we observe International Literacy Day where it evokes nations to join the constant effort of changing lives through literacy— a basic necessity for all.
Our skills should go beyond the ability of learning the alphabet and forming messages, but also promoting comprehension and critical thinking skills. Individuals should be able to unlock values and beliefs that cultivate peace, justice, respect, and equality through effective communication with self and others. This allows us to connect with communities that help us achieve a future of sustainability and improvement.
For the 2024 celebration, it will be held in Yaoundré, Cameroon with the theme of “Promoting multilingual education: Literacy for mutual understanding and peace”, wherein a conference and awards ceremony are planned. This is to promote literacy in a multilingual perspective across the globe, as well as honoring achieved policies and governance that further improves the mission for years.
Asides from marking these days on our calendar, it should be a call for action on how we can each do our role in valuing the history and context of these events. As we constantly fight for rights individuals deserve, especially the children, we may ask ourselves what we can do for them.
Together, we lend a helping hand towards the betterment of our society where connection and empowerment continues to grow stronger than before.
