Advocating for Literacy Across Borders

PhD alumna Yidan Wang has served on the jury for the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes since 2023

This past summer, Yidan Wang was tasked with a profound global responsibility: reviewing applications for the prestigious international literacy prizes in Paris, France. As she evaluated groundbreaking educational initiatives, she found herself deeply immersed in a complex, shifting landscape—the unique struggle of youth and adults not only for achieving basic literacy but also for navigating digital-age literacy.

Wang (PhD ’96), a retired senior education specialist with the World Bank Group, serves as an international jury member for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s International Literacy Prizes, a role she stepped into four years ago.

The prizes are awarded to programs demonstrating innovative ways to promote and improve literacy in their countries and communities.

The prize’s jury is small, made up of five education professionals spread across continents. This year, the jury reviewed more than 100 applications from around the world and will award only six prizes, which will be announced on September 8, on International Literacy Day, during the 60th anniversary celebration in Chiapas, Mexico.

The intensive review experience reminds Wang of the real challenges of literacy education.

UNESCO estimates that 739 million youth and adults worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and two-thirds of them are women —a number that surprised even Wang.

“The task is really serious,” she said.

Wang was struck to learn that adults lacking functional literacy – which is the ability to read, write, and use numbers to fully participate in the workforce – is a serious problem in every part of the world.

Two groups keep surfacing in applications for the UNESCO literacy prizes, Wang says.

The first group is young people in developing countries who face basic barriers to entering school. According to UNESCO, there are 273 million children not enrolled in school. One of last year’s UNESCO literacy prizes went to a project in Bangladesh that used boats to ferry children in flood-prone areas to floating classrooms.

The second group is adults navigating a newer challenge: digital-age literacy. They must acquire basic literacy skills, while simultaneously developing higher-order skills to engage with knowledge and information.

Technology can be both a barrier and a bridge. For example, there are mobile apps that let people track their own learning progress from remote areas.

“Before, you didn’t go to school if you lived in remote areas,” Wang said. Digital learning “provides a lot of opportunity.”

Over the years, UNESCO International Literacy Prizes have honored the diversity of approaches required to address today’s literacy challenges as the prizes recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Wang traces her literacy education work directly back to her years at Pitt. As a doctoral student, Wang traveled to Bosnia during the Bosnian war (1992-95) with Pitt professors to work alongside government officials. Following that trip, she took on consulting work in Kyrgyzstan on a professor’s recommendation.

“That was really helpful for me to shape my career, my goals, and my everything,” she said.

She would give the same advice to students starting out in international education studies today: Don’t stay in the classroom.

“Get involved in other things to broaden your vision, so that you know what’s going on in the world,” Wang said.

Since retiring from the World Bank during the early days of the pandemic, Wang remains actively engaged in global education work. She splits her time between an advisory role with Peking University in Beijing and serving on the Pitt School of Education Board of Visitors.

Nearly 30 years after finishing her PhD, Wang continues to advocate for literacy for all learners.