Effects of Illiteracy on the Society

Illiteracy basically refers to the inability of a person to read and write. Recent studies show that there is indeed an increasing rate of illiteracy all over the world. A study conducted by World Statistics Institute (WSI) shows that more than 27% of people from all over the globe are illiterate (Fauzi, 2009). WSI also reports that 32% is the speed at which the illiteracy rate ascends. These rates are beneficial information because it has terrible effects on our society.

The most important effect of illiteracy on the society is that it acts as an inhibitor. It suppresses the growth of a society. This means that the more illiterate people there are in a country, the harder it will be for the country to develop (Fauzi, 2009). The world does not require adults to only be able to read and understand basic texts but also be able to function in the workplace (n.a., 2011). This means that a person should be able to pay bills, understand legal and financial documents and use or navigate the products of technology (n.a., 2011). These functions of an individual refer to the two types of literacy: functional and cultural. Functional literacy means that a person should be able to sign one’s name on important documents or papers while cultural literacy, on the other hand, refers to the ability of a person to adapt to the behavior of the educated populace (Mc Arthur, 1998).

The society is affected by the inabilities of its people. In this instance, the inability of the people in a society to read and write affects the supposedly “better performance” in the workplace. As the rate of illiteracy grows, the harder it is for a society to adapt to advanced technology and therefore makes them undeveloped. One of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations member states is to achieve universal primary education. The member states aim to let all children complete a full course of primary education by 2015. Since the first step of learning in school is to know how to read and write, it is necessary to complete primary education, at the very least, to prevent the further growth of illiteracy rate among individuals ages 15-24. The primary education would be the foundation for them to work in an institution that requires the ability to read and write. According to the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD), low-income countries consist of 61% of adults who are literate while high-income countries have 99% literate adults (n.a., 2011). The over 30% discrepancy between these two countries has a great impact on the development of these societies. These rates clearly show how literacy and illiteracy either help the country move forward or suppress its development respectively. These are some of the effects of illiteracy on the society:

1. Unemployment- People who are able to read and write would be more functional in a workplace. This gives those who are illiterate a smaller chance of getting a job.
2. Increased crime and incarceration – Individuals who aren’t able to read and write struggle to function in a society. So, they end up worsening their lives by committing crimes and increase the burden on state prisons (n.a., 2011).
3. High social and economic costs- High incarceration would also lead to the increase on the burden on economic support systems.

Sources:

Muhammad Zulhilmibin Fauzi. (2009, October 24). Effects of Illiteracy on Society. Retrieved from http://muhdzul90.blogspot.com/2009/10/effects-of-illiteracy-on-society.html

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2009). National adult literacy rates (15+), youth literacy rates (15-24) and elderly literacy rates (65+) [Data file]. Retrieved from http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=210&IF_Language=eng

n.a. (2011). Illiteracy: The Downfall of American Society. Retrieved from http://education-portal.com/articles/Illiteracy_The_Downfall_of_American_Society.html

Mc Arthur, T. (1998). Illiteracy. Retrieved July 18, 2011 from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/illiteracy.aspx

Causes of Illiteracy

According to the article “Causes of Illiteracy” (n.d.) from Whatcausesit.net, learning disabilities, poverty and cultural influences are the leading causes of illiteracy worldwide.  Determining why an individual is illiterate will require an investigation into his/her daily lifestyle, heritage, and background.

Neurologically based learning disabilities are not evident by appearance therefore they are considered to be hidden handicaps. Learning disabilities affect a person’s ability to interpret what is seen or heard, or the ability to associate information from different areas of the brain. An individual with a learning disability often keeps his/her condition as a secret. A specialized education is required for people with such disabilities. However, these disabilities can certainly be overcome, and to do so will allow a person to develop normally and have greater opportunities in life. According to “Causes of Illiteracy” (n.d.) from Thinkquest.com, these learning disabilities include:

·         Dyslexia – is due to a signal-scrambling disturbance of inner-ear origin. It is not just characterized by reversals of letters and numbers.

·         Central Auditory Processing Disorders (CAPD) – is a disruption in the ability of a child to interpret and store information they head. It is not due to lack of intelligence or a hearing problem.

·         Short Term Memory Difficulties – is a disability in your brain that causes you to have a hard time remembering things that aren’t repeated enough to be remembered long term.

Furthermore, it is said in the article “Causes of Illiteracy” (n.d) from Whatcausesit.net that poverty is often the underlying cause of illiteracy in many undeveloped countries, although there are no definite links between poverty and illiteracy. Poor communities lack funds for education. Underprivileged families have difficulty finding resources for survival hence their children have little chances of attaining education. Frequently, children can be found begging  for money on the streets; an activity that keeps their families fed but also keeps them from becoming educated.

Environment is a huge factor when it comes to learning and children learn behaviors from the people around them. Parents who have good/ideal knowledge-gaining habits (such as reading) are setting a good example for their children, who will aspire to be like those they identify with most. On the other hand, parents with little education and no reading skills of their own will not have the knowledge to pass on to their children; most likely extending another generation of illiteracy.

Sources:

Causes of Illiteracy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.whatcausesit.net/causes_of_illiteracy/causes_of_illiteracy.html

Causes of Illiteracy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112734/page1.htm

Data on Illiteracy

"In the last decade great gains have been made in eradicating illiteracy globally, however, a long road still lies ahead before full success can be contemplated."

Source: http://www.glpinc.org/Web_pages/Illiteracy_Globally.html

Source: http://www.riazhaq.com/2011/04/brits-offer-1-billion-to-aid-schools-in.html

Source: From http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights/statistics-on-education/statistics-on-literacy/

Illiteracy in relation to Unemployment

Unemployment is defined as a situation where someone of working age is not able to get a job but would like to be in full time employment. It is the state of being unemployed and also the rate of such unemployment. (Merriam-Webster Inc., n.d.).

Illiteracy can be termed as the state of being illiterate. Should people have not received education or if they have not risen within healthy and appropriate condition in terms of cultural level. Illiteracy has many serious effects on individuals as well as society such as unemployment together with loss of language and culture.

In the first place, unemployment can be viewed as the most remarkable outcome of

illiteracy. There is a strong connection between unemployment and illiteracy. If

the numbers of uneducated people increase, it would not be much of surprise to see

that unemployment is perhaps going to grow in coming times.

Another reason is it is as important as one is loss of language and culture. That

is to say, it can obviously be claim that illiteracy is likely to give way to loss

of language and culture. Illiterate people do not speak as much as other people,

they cannot have information about religions and beliefs. Moreover, people cannot

be aware of wealthiness of their own culture and language.

The conclusion to be drawn would be that unemployment as well as loss of language

and culture roots from illiteracy. Education has constituted the backbone of a

healty society. Thus, If the previous governments had taken more severe steps about

education, the level of illiteracy would not have been so high.

Sources:

Unemployment. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionaryunemployment

Philippine Unemployment Rate from 1993-2009. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.sws.org.ph/

The thin line between Illiteracy and Poverty

It should now be clear to us that being educated in reading and writing, especially in a 3rd world country like us, is a blessing for all, especially to the children who will soon be the movers and shakers of this society. It is a necessity and it should be a right given to all people. Unfortunately, due to financial problems plaguing some families, they are unable to provide this. This brings up the question, is illiteracy the cause of poverty? Or is poverty the cause of illiteracy? Does being poor directly translate to being illiterate? Or does being illiterate directly translate to being poor? Either way, we are in no way winning.

According to the 2005 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), 48.4 million or 84% of the estimated 57.6 million Filipinos who are 10 to 64 years old are said to be "functionally" literate (Source: "8 out of 10 Filipinos are functionally literate" by D. Pepito, TODAY newspaper, February 17, 2005). For a 3rd world country like us, our literacy rate has risen from 72% to 90% in the last 30 years. Our improvements on paper pretty much lessens our worries, but we cannot deny that even though it looks like that on surveys, illiteracy still remains to be a problem.

It draws us to hopefully think, if these people living in the slums were to be much more literate than they currently are, would their lives be better? At first though, I'm sure it would be a resounding yes from a lot of us. Just think about it. Being literate will lead to people who would have a better understanding of laws and regulations, people would be able to think and contribute towards the betterment of a particular field because they will have a better grasp of the knowledge they are taking in. It would be a much more peaceful and behaved country wherein advancements in a lot of aspects for the Philippines would be an easier process because there would be more law-abiding citizens than rule-breaking ones.

Is poverty to blame for illiteracy? Is illiteracy to blame for poverty? Or is illiteracy to blame for itself? It could be either of these, but what's important is that we do our part to solve this problem for our benefit.

Sources:

Illiteracy is bad for us - so why don't we do something. (2010) Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/7897687/Illiteracy-is-bad-for-us-so-why-dont-we-do-something-about-it.html

UNESCO. (2005) Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/philippines_statistics.html

Illiteracy

Illiteracy, by definition, is the quality or state of being illiterate; especially the inability to read or write (Merriam-Webster Inc., n.d.). It refers to “the actual or perceived state of being uneducated or insufficiently educated” (Mc Arthur, 1998). Scholars use different terms to refer to people who are illiterate. They use more neutral terms such as non-literate for societies and individuals for whom literacy isn’t a relevant issue and pre-literate for conditions before literacy was adopted (Mc Arthur, 1998). Formerly, the term illiterate was used to describe someone who do not have book learning even though he can read in a vernacular language (Mc Arthur, 1998). As education moved away from the classical languages, illiterate came to mean the inability to sign one’s name in an important papers, marriage documents for instance, or to read simple passages (Mc Arthur, 1998). In recent years, the term has been used to describe the condition of people to cope with printed materials relevant to their needs. This condition refers to functional illiteracy (Mc Arthur, 1998). Another type of illiteracy is the cultural illiteracy wherein people are unacquainted with the conventions of an educated population (Mc Arthur, 1998). This inability to read or write not only prevents people from functioning fully in the society, but also becomes part of the national priority and use of human resources (Mc Arthur, 1998).

Sources:

Illiteracy. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illitercy

Mc Arthur, T. (1998). Illiteracy. Retrieved July 18, 2011 from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/illiteracy.aspx