International Literacy Day reminds people of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) celebrates International Literacy Day on 8 September. This year’s theme is ‘Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies’.
Learning to read is an important foundational skill in young children's literacy development, and schools and families play a key role in helping children achieve this milestone. To celebrate International Literacy Day, school leaders, teachers, students and families are encouraged to explore the Literacy Hub to access free resources and professional learning to help students learn to read.
Literacy Hub resources
The Literacy Hub is all about helping young students to develop their skills and knowledge to become confident, creative and enthusiastic learners. Learning to read is an exciting step in their literacy journey. The Hub supports school leaders, teachers and families to engage in effective literacy practices.
The Hub provides a range of teacher professional learning materials and assessment tools such as the Year 1 Phonics Check focused on areas including explicit teaching practices for reading development in the early years. Information for families on phonics, literacy development, how schools teach literacy and fun activities to do at home is also available.
UNESCO 2023 celebrations
Under this year’s theme, International Literacy Day is celebrated at the global, regional, country, and local levels. At the global level, a conference held on Friday, 8 September 2023 will include the award ceremony of the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes to announce this year's prizewinning programmes.
UNESCO is also asking people to join the #ImALifelongLearner campaign and share their literacy learning story. The campaign serves as a reminder that the right to education is a right to lifelong learning that knows no age limits.
More information
Visit the Literacy Hub website to access the resources.
Learn more about International Literacy Day on the UNESCO website.