This year’s theme for International Literacy Day, which marked on September 8, is “Literacy and Multilingualism.”  Despite progress made, literacy challenges persist, distributed unevenly across countries and populations. Embracing linguistic diversity in education and literacy development is central to addressing these literacy challenges and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

In Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, starting in two Aga Khan schools, and now with the intention to of expanding nationally with the aid of the Tajik Ministry of Science and Education, the Ag Khan Education Services (AKES) has been experimenting with the concept of plurilingual literacy, according to the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

This new curriculum is reportedly intended to be one that encourages understanding and respect of the cultures involved, pluralism through linguistic diversity, and one that allows learners not just to read and write at university level by the end of high school, but to do so in a foreign language.

Students of Aga Khan schools are not expected to simply be “able to read and write”, they are encouraged to want to read and write, to understand why we read and write, and to view their own literacy skills as paths that can lead in many different directions, not just academic ones.  They are encouraged to bring their own languages into the classroom, appreciate and share their own languages and cultures, utilize English as a lingua franca, but not forget who they are, and to understand that each and every language is a manifestation of the culture of those who express themselves in that language.  It is believed that by encouraging this change in Aga Khan schools and at a higher, national level Aga Khan schools will be able to provide more useful educational targets, and that spreading this approach may have a positive developmental impact on the wider community.

Established in 1998, the Aga Khan Lycée is the first privately operated school in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO). The Lycée, part of part of the Aga Khan Education Services (AKES), is built on the premises of the former School #3 (named after Kirov), a school with a distinguished history in Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region.

Each year, the Lycée reportedly educates over 950 students from Grades 1 to 11 with a graduation rate above 90 percent.  It aims to provide students with high quality of education and prepare them for further studies at first-rate universities.

September 8 was declared International Literacy Day by UNESCO on October 26, 1966 at 14th session of UNESCO's General conference.  It was celebrated for the first time in 1967. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. Celebrations take place in several countries.  International Literacy Day is a day to remind world leaders, influencers and the general public of the current status of adult literacy and learning.