Early Learning Resource Network News Today

#StartTheStory celebrates the power of stories and reading on International Education Day, January 24, 2024. The International Day of Education pushes for quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all.

This year, around 2 million children in Senegal and their families will receive books alongside support and encouragement to enjoy reading at home.

On this International Literacy Day, let us remember that an unacceptable number of children do not know how to read. Seventy percent of children in low- and low-middle income countries are unable to read and understand a simple paragraph by the age of 10 (which we call learning poverty).

With close to 80 percent of age-10 children in Honduras experiencing learning poverty—which means that they are unable to read and understand a simple text—it’s never been more critical to expand children’s access to books and improve opportunities for children to learn and read at home.