NASSAU, BAHAMAS –September 8 marks the 60th anniversary of International Literacy Day, but one of our most urgent literacy challenges is no longer simply whether people can read the words before them. It is whether they can interpret, question and properly use what they read.
A person may be able to read a prescription label without understanding the instructions, scan a contract without grasping the obligations or repeat something circulated on WhatsApp without knowing whether it is true. Children may read an entire passage aloud yet struggle to explain what it means. Reading the words is not the same as understanding them.
In an age of social media, artificial intelligence, online scams and information overload, comprehension is essential for navigating daily life. It affects how we manage our health and finances, participate in democracy, protect ourselves online and make decisions for our families. Literacy today must include the ability to interpret information, consider its source and apply sound judgment.
The responsibility, however, does not rest only with the reader. Institutions, professionals, leaders and individuals must also communicate in ways people can understand. Too often, technical language, jargon and big words are used to sound knowledgeable or important. A message has not succeeded simply because it sounds impressive. If the people who need the information cannot understand it, communication has failed.
Plain language is not about speaking down to people or removing substance. It is about making important information clear, accessible and useful. Whether we are explaining public policy, medical advice, financial products or something as simple as an everyday instruction, we should always consider our audience and do our best to be understood.
UNESCO’s theme for this year, “Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity,” should therefore prompt us to look beyond literacy rates and ask harder questions about comprehension. Are our children learning to think about what they read? Do adults who struggle have somewhere to seek help without embarrassment? Are those entrusted with sharing important information making it unnecessarily difficult to understand?
I have championed literacy for many years because it is fundamental to individual opportunity and national development. The work begins with each of us. Read with a child, help an adult find support without shame, question information before sharing it and replace jargon with language people can understand. Schools, workplaces, government agencies and other institutions must also make comprehension a priority. The true measure of literacy is not simply what we can read but what we understand, and what that understanding empowers us to do.
So, as we mark this important global milestone, remember while reading gives us access to information, our national progress and prosperity depend on us comprehending it.
Reading to understand,
-Maxine V. Seymour
