Seventy percent of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries cannot read a simple sentence, according to World Bank data, a crisis the World Literacy Foundation says demands urgent global attention. Today, the Foundation issued a call for literacy leaders, educators and innovators from Nigeria to present at the World Literacy Summit at Oxford University in April 2027.

“As a global summit, it is vital that the voice of Nigeria is heard,” said World Literacy Foundation CEO Andrew Kay. “Local insights and local solutions deserve a place on the world stage.”

The crisis is especially acute in Nigeria. Three out of every four Nigerian children are “learning poor,” unable to read and understand an age-appropriate text by age 10, Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, said at a Federal Ministry of Education and Universal Basic Education Commission roundtable on June 30, 2026.

A global crisis by the numbers:

70% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries cannot read a simple sentence, known as “learning poverty” (World Bank, UNESCO and UNICEF, 2022)

773 million people worldwide cannot read at all, and another 2 billion struggle to read a simple sentence (World Literacy Foundation, 2025)

Achieving universal basic literacy could unlock as much as $6.5 trillion annually in global GDP (Ben Piper, Director, Gates Foundation Global Education Program)

Today’s students could lose a combined $21 trillion in lifetime earnings due to learning poverty (World Bank, UNESCO and UNICEF, 2022)

In the United States, daily reading for pleasure has dropped more than 40% over the past two decades (University of Florida and University College London, 2025)

A growing debate among literacy and publishing sector leaders over whether society has entered a “postliterate age” (The Atlantic, 2026)

Kay said the crisis extends well beyond low-income countries. In low-income households, 61% of children don’t own a single book.

“This is a rapidly escalating crisis with serious consequences for workforce readiness, economic productivity and the wellbeing of future generations,” Kay said.

The World Literacy Summit brings together academics, literacy practitioners, government leaders, ed-tech innovators and NGOs to showcase programs making a measurable difference in communities worldwide. Key themes for 2027 include AI-powered tools for early reading, new global literacy evidence, early childhood literacy development, and best-practice models from around the world.

The Foundation is seeking speakers from Nigeria to present, join panel discussions or lead group sessions.

Applications are open now at worldliteracysummit.org. Registrations close August 30.

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