Adult Iliteracy

i.“Illiteracy- The inability to read and write a simple message in any language” ) Let’s first analyze this definition closely. An illiterate person is like a handicapped person who is unfamiliar with the happenings in his surroundings, cant even drive because of his lack of ability to understand the basic symbols and traffic signs, cant read menus and the list goes on. It’s like you can’t be independent. ii.Due to the lack of the ability to read the newspaper, many people remain unaware about the inside story of different elected parties and they take the wrong decisions while casting their votes (in case of democratic countries), which leads to bad governance and problems like unemployment, poverty, etc never taking a back seat. To liberate ourselves from the shackles of ignorance, poverty etc, we need to get out of this vicious circle. iii.The illiteracy rates vary from region to region depending on the factors like wealth and urbanization. One common thing to be pointed out in the countries with high illiteracy rates is the social custom which curbs the education of females. The main reason I find behind the progress of developed countries is their high literacy rates. This is because high literacy rates mean more knowledgeable and skilled people in the country (what we call human capital). Literate people can understand and learn the things more easily, so they enjoy a higher socio-economic status as well as catalyze the development of the country as a whole. iv.Governments and other stakeholders are increasingly interested in assessing the skills of their adult populations in order to monitor how well prepared they are for the challenges of the modern knowledge-based society. Adults are expected to use information in complex ways and to maintain and enhance their literacy skills to adopt to ever changing technologies. Literacy is important not only for personal development, but also for positive educational, social and economic outcomes.
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