Peeping Into How Illiteracy Affects Everyone As The World Marks Literacy Day, Today September 8, 2021 -By Isaac Asabor

There is no denying the fact that since 1967 when the International Literacy Day (ILD) celebrations began to take place annually across the world primarily to remind the public of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights, and to advance the literacy agenda towards a more literate and sustainable society that illiteracy, which many people see as a disease, still persists. Despite progress made, literacy challenges persist with millions of young people and adults lacking basic literacy skills today.
It is against the foregoing backdrop that the International Literacy Day (ILD) 2021 is been celebrated today under the theme “Literacy for a human-centered recovery: Narrowing the digital divide”.

Today’s event will no doubt be relatively be more spectacular as the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted the learning of children, young people and adults at an unprecedented scale. It has also magnified the pre-existing inequalities in access to meaningful literacy learning opportunities, disproportionally affecting 773 million non-literate young people and adults. Youth and adult literacy were absent in many initial national response plans, while numerous literacy programmes have been forced to halt their usual modes of operation.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this writer has for the umpteenth times seen illiterates in banking halls frantically searching for someone that could help them fill their tellers. Not only that, he has seen well-dressed looking young men that came across as educated elites at public places thumb printing on documents as they lacked the literary level to append their signatures to such documents.

In fact, not few Nigerians will agree with this writer that they had at one time or the other come across or heard of a lady who cried out for help over a rich man who intended to marry her but he is an illiterate. Without any scintilla of exaggeration, illiteracy has humiliated most men and women as they are unable to read, write and speak fluent English, and for that reason have lost several opportunities.

There is no denying the fact that the first few years of a child’s life are some of the most important. Beyond the crying, cooing, napping, and stumbling that marks toddlerhood, there is a whole lot of cognitive development that naturally occurs. In fact, scientists posit that about 80 percent of a child’s brain is developed by age three, with a key period of development occurring in their language and literacy skills.

Unfortunately, the quality of early childhood education a child receives in this part of the world is often determined by his or her parents’ economic status and exposures. Studies have shown that by age five, half of children living in poverty are not academically or socially ready for school. By fourth grade, the divide increases with 80 percent of low-income children reading below grade level. These children often fall behind during critical early years, which not only negatively affects their performance in the classroom, but can also impact their social skills, health, and economic status later in life. And this problem extends to our broader society and economy, too.

Also according to research, low literacy levels are often correlated with poor health outcomes, including higher rates of hospitalization and more frequent outpatient visits, than when compared to adults with higher levels of literacy. Additionally, low-literacy adults are less likely to have preventative healthcare screenings or properly adhere to prescribed medication intake. This lack of understanding around health information and an impaired ability to make sound health decisions has implications on our larger society as millions of, if not billions of naira are spent annually in health care costs linked to low-literacy adults. An outcome that could have easily been avoided.

In fact, reading ability and an individual’s health status are so closely correlated that in recent years, the medical community has begun to treat reading as a public health issue. Medical providers are encouraged to play an active role in helping to combat the literacy crisis. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a toolkit that provides resources for health care providers and doctors to speak to parents about the importance of early literacy. It encourages parents to read, talk, and sing with their children and outlines how pediatricians can implement a literacy promotion program with their patients. Resources such as this toolkit instill the importance and the joy that comes with reading for children and their parents.

As to the detriment of illiteracy to the society, it is logical to say that since literacy is an essential tool for individuals and states to be competitive in the new global knowledge economy, many positions remain vacant for lack of personnel adequately trained to hold them, and the higher the proportion of adults with low literacy proficiency, the slower the overall long-term GDP growth rate would become.

In fact, the difficulty in understanding societal issues lowers the level of community involvement and civic participation.

Not only that, without the basic tools necessary for achieving their goals, individuals without an adequate level of literacy cannot be involved fully and on a completely equal basis in social and political discourse.

The issue of illiteracy is a serious one that deserves everyone’s concern as its consequences are many and harmful in several respects. Viewed from the foregoing perspective, it can as well be said that it affects illiterate individuals themselves in their daily lives and often jeopardizing their future as the scourge has a significant effect on society, both socially and economically.

It is equally germane to say in this context that the consequences of illiteracy on individuals and society cut across limited ability to obtain and understand essential information, unemployment, low income, low quality jobs and reduced access to lifelong learning and professional development.
Looking at its demerits from financial point of view, it is not an exaggeration to say that illiterates more often than not find themselves in precarious financial position, even as in a household where an illiterate happens to the head, little value is given to education and reading within the family, and this often leads to intergenerational transmission of illiteracy.

At this juncture, particularly as the world is today marking world literacy day, it is expedient to ask “What can we do?”

Personally, given the fact that illiteracy or low literacy is a national crisis that affects all of us and our broader economy, it is expedient to suggest that the earlier we intervene, the larger impact we can make. By taking the time to understand the facts of this issue and working together to combat the literacy crisis head on, we can help to ensure children are getting the resources and attention they need to be strong readers and successful members of society.

Be that as it may, “Who says learning shouldn’t continue into adulthood?” The governments, at all levels, should in the spirit of the marking of World Literacy Day endeavor to intensify efforts towards the provision of adult education as it gives mature learners the chance to increase their knowledge, develop new skills and gain helpful qualifications and credentials. In fact, the importance of adult education is difficult to overstate. Adult education plays an important role in helping mature aged learners develop new skills and improve the career prospects available to them.