India’s NIOS wins UNESCO Literacy Prize 2021 for Innovation in Education
- The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), a board of education under the Union Government of India, has won the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2021 on the occasion of International Literacy Day 2021.
- NIOS has been awarded for enabling education of persons with disabilities through technology-enabled inclusive learning materials, with a specific focus on Indian Sign language-based content.
- The UNESCO International Literacy Prizes is awarded every year since 1967, for excellence and innovation in the field of literacy.
- Apart from NIOS, five other outstanding literacy programmes from Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Guatemala, Mexico, and South Africa also received the award.
- The prizes are given in two categories:
- The UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize (3 awards) – gives special consideration to mother language-based literacy development.
- The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy (3 awards) – gives special consideration functional literacy, leveraging technological environments, in support of adults in rural areas and out-of-school Youth.