International Literacy Day.
The 8th of September is known to be the International Literacy Day. Aimed towards highlighting the significance of education and literacy, this day is a way to promote and create awareness about literacy.
Now, one might think that, what is the need for such a day in today’s time what with digital sphere growing by leaps and bounds, and internet is a technology which even children know how to handle and more.
But there are many places still, India being such a fine example, where even the basic education is something that one has to fight and struggle to get. Be it for the women or the backward classes or even the poor, getting education and becoming literate to them is something of a dream.
And yet, a lot of the upper and city people, dismiss and take for granted the education that they have the privilege to.
Wait wait… I am not here to go into all that. That topic is for another time, another day.
Instead I wanted to talk about what it means to be literate in today’s world. And the disturbing thing I realized is that even till now, we are only abiding by the original definition of literate, that is, someone who know how to read and write.
In my argument though, I feel that we have come so far ahead of that small little definition, in terms of science, medicine and so much more.
But still, people think that they become literate just because they know how to write a few sentences in a certain language and read a couple of paragraphs from a book.
When in fact, being literate does not just stop at learning one’s ABC’s, education and knowledge bring a certain sense and awareness about the world and society.
Which is severely lacking in today’s time, with people thinking of themselves as being learned men and women based on a school degree.
Literacy does not stop there my friend.
Literacy is also about using the knowledge that one has gained and putting it to good and productive use.
Literacy is about making sure that the education one has gained is not left to rot, while one posts meaningless and even at times rude posts and comments. You have to make sure that you use that education to make the world a better place.
Signing off, I would just say that if were one to ask me if the world is literate today, then my answer would be no. Because we might know how to read and write, but unfortunately, we are quickly forgetting how to put those abilities to good use.
Image Credits: Google Images
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