International Literacy Day 2010
September 8, 2010 by Lillie
Imagine not being able to read. Imagine looking at words on a page and seeing gibberish. Imagine never being able to lose yourself in a story or find the answers to your questions in a book. Imagine not being able to fill out a job application or read a map.
According to the International Reading Association, “The World’s Leading Organization of Literacy Professionals”:
More than 780 million of the world’s adults (nearly two-thirds of whom are women) do not know how to read or write, and between 94 and 115 million children lack access to education.
As an author, obviously I depend on people being able to read in order to buy and enjoy my books. But that is minor compared to my desire for everyone to experience the joy of reading that I have been blessed with for as long as I can remember.
If you are passionate about literacy as I am, read more posts submitted to Bloggers Unite for International Literacy Day or contribute to solving the illiteracy problem by following some of the suggestions below:
- Learn about the importance of literacy.
- Donate used books to a local literacy organization.
- Volunteer in a literacy program, a school, a library, or other organization that promotes literacy.
- Donate books you have written or books by a favorite author to an international literacy agency.
- Spread the word about literacy.
photo credit: David Salafia
Unfortunately education and literacy depends a lot on money
, and sometimes it’s more a privilege than a right.
It’s sad that so many don’t know how to read… my 5 year old absorbs as much reading as I can read to him… the more more I read to him, the more he wants to learn to read and tries to read himself. It’s was the same with my older children too. So much depends on parents, not teachers.
Jenny,
You’re probably right about the situation in many parts of the world. Here in the US, sometimes it seems that the more money spent on education, the poorer the quality of the education provided. Some of the best schools operate on limited budgets, and some of the worst schools spend lots of money.
Fred,
You’re right. Kids that grow up being read to by their parents and who see their parents read a lot are more likely to be avid readers than kids who don’t have those experiences.
education is really a treasure..over here in our third world poor countyr, not al children has the chance to get to know the letters of the alphabet or the 123s..so unfortunate that most of the rich kids don’t realize these..hopefully the nationwide illiteracy rate would climb as much..
kimmy recently posted..Specifics of iPhone 4
Thanks a lot Lillie for posting about the literacy, Every educated person should do something to educate the uneducated person. As a blogger, we should write some nice posts about this topic of Literacy, so that our readers can understand this problem.
Ricky recently posted..Forex Trading Softwares
kimmy,
Those of us fortunate enough to live in a country where education is the norm need to realize what a blessing it is and do all we can to encourage it throughout the world.
Ricky,
You make an excellent point that educated people need to help the illiterate.
This is a great opportunity to stress the importance of reading to children
tomoko@free games for kids recently posted..The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks
Thank you, Lillie. Agreed, the amount of money spent on education seems to have little to do with learning.
To this day there are children with learning disabilities being pushed to the next grade. They are functionally illiterate, understanding general concepts, but not fully grasping everything they need to know.
Matt Keegan recently posted..Good- Better- Best Blogging Practices
There is really no excuse for not knowing how to read and write here in the USA. Look at the old immigrants who first graced our shores and all the hard work and sacrifice they endured for a better life. Learning a new language while working and providing for their children to learn to read and write so they could be better off.
As long as you don’t bring a weapon to school you can learn as much as your heart desires about any subject or career.
This day marks the significance of literacy to various communities and also for individuals.This day was first celebrated by the UNESCO on November 17, 1966. About 776 million people are still not literate among which almost two-thirds are women.UNESCO’s report said that the lowest adult literacy rate is found in South and West Asia. The next is sub-Saharan Africa and Arab States which also have a low literacy rate. The report says that illiteracy is followed by poverty and chauvinism against women.
tomoko,
Reading to children is so important. That’s what really gets them to learn to love stories and eventually reading for themselves.
Matt,
I have a severely disabled and profoundly retarded niece. She loves to read though even as an adult she reads books for children and young adults. She loves to play word games, like word search and simple crossword puzzles. She rolls herself to work in a sheltered workshop and is so proud of being able to earn an income. She will never do what a “normal” adult can do, but she does so much more than anyone ever imagined she could because she was encouraged to perform to her very best. When she was a small child, people used to think my sister was very mean because she always made my niece help with household chores. She couldn’t sweep, but she could sit in her wheelchair and dust. She couldn’t mop the floor but she could carry the dishes to the sink on the tray of her wheelchair and sit at the sink and wash dishes. It breaks my heart to see children warehoused and not educated to the maximum they are capable of.
Lee,
You’re so right that people who don’t learn don’t want to learn … or possibly have become convinced they can’t learn. There are plenty of opportunities but people have to put forth the effort.
kobe,
You’ve done your homework on the day and the problem.
Sadly, we are graduating too many students out of high school who can’t read. More often, though, they lack proper grammar skills and cannot comprehend what they DO read. I am also amazed at how many cashiers can’t even count back change properly. My son will graduate high school this Spring. His penmanship is very substandard. He was in Special Ed classes in elementary and middle schools due to ADHD. I raised concerns about his penmanship in elementary school and was told that they don’t worry about that so much any more because “everything is on computers.” WHAT????? Don’t we still have to be able to legibly write a check? Sign our name on contracts? Fill out various forms like job applications? Our society has become too concerned with students’ self-esteem and political correctness to the point our teachers are afraid to tell a student something is wrong, but rather that it’s “close enough.” Critical thinking and comprehension are no longer taught like they used to be. Our kids are expected to be mindless robots and let computers do all the work and thinking for them. Before the 20th century many, many people learned to read with the Bible, but they’ve taken that out of our schools now, too. It worked for hundreds of years… Ok, I’m through ranting now…
Carl @Christian living recently posted..The Burning Question in Florida
Lillie,
The ability to read is a fundamental necessity to functioning happily and safely in society. I am amazed at how easy it is to take this for granted.
I am curious, what are literacy rates like for minority groups in the United States? Shamefully, in Australia, almost one third of our indigenous population are not sufficiently literate to function effectively in society by the time they are fifteen. I don’t know what the statistic is for other minority groups such as migrants, or for the Australian population in general, but clearly, we in Australia have a lot of work to do to bridge the gap with regard to disadvantaged groups like our indigenous population.
Andrew Heaton recently posted..Ethics in journalism and the challenges of new media
Carl,
I agree with your rant. Self-esteem has become more important in the school system than education or accountability or values.
Andrew,
I don’t have the statistical breakdown by ethnic groups, but I do know that I live in south Texas with a high population of Hispanics, and we have a very low literacy rate. I suspect that’s common among minorities, especially ethnic groups for whom English is a second language.
I can’t imagine not being able to read. It is a gift we take for granted. We must do our best to see that the next generation is more literate than ours. Agree with your earlier comment lillie that you must read to your child. That is what starts the interest at an early age.
SenseiMattKlein@kids karate sydney recently posted..Teaching Children Martial Arts- Exercise as Punishment
Sensei,
Absolutely. Reading is so important from a practical standpoint but equally important for the pleasure it brings.
Literacy doesn’t stop in the four corners of the classroom. It is an ongoing process in human life to continue to seek for knowledge.
Roslyn,
True … but it is important that children get off to a good start in learning to read and write.
Our school system has far to many problems ie distractions. In some cases it will do more harm to oneself than good. I be leave that we should self educate our self’s and our children. In this way we can avoid all the problems associated with the system. Education should be an ongoing process and it must start at home.
Edward,
I agree that homeschooling is great if the parents can manage it. Single parents may not be able to do it because they have to work to support the family, and some parents simply don’t have the knowledge or experience to know how to do it. But there are many home school curriculums now and classes taught online that it’s easier than it’s ever been.
Despite being expensive literary programs are cost effective. Every dollar spent saves hundreds in welfare and makes hundreds from taxes of people in employment. Literacy is fundamental to a good life and should be everywhere.
S
Steve,
I know of some literacy programs that are run with volunteers, donated materials, and very little budgets that are very effective.
Education is indeed a treasure. Yet sometimes, mere literacy can be a person’s fortune and weapon in life. I never imagined that there could be as many as 780 million illiterate adults in our planet!
Sabrina,
Yes, literacy can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Being able to read and write will open doors they would never have been able to walk through before.
Lillie,
I didn’t appreciate how hard it was for those whom English is a second language until I went to Korea and saw not only how many of them tried valiantly with their English but still struggled. I myself trying quite hard to Korean whilst I was there, but still after four years, I could only do basic expressions like ‘Yesterday, I bought a cheap computer at the market,’ or ‘I’m not hungry now because I had a late lunch’ (I could only ever make one slow sentence at a time and could not follow conversations amongst Koreans at all).
It doesn’t surprise me that Hispanics, with English not being their first language, would battle a bit. What would their first language be, do you know? I imagine it would probably be Spanish – is that correct?
Andrew Heaton recently posted..Hong Kong’s minimum wage- a positive development with one small problem
Andrew,
Hispanics in our part of the world speak Spanish. I took Spanish in college and made a decent grade in the course but never actually learned to carry on a conversation in the language.