literacy facts, effects of illiteracy and actions taken to solve illiteracy

1. Literacy
BOYS’ BRIGADE SINGAPORE 50TH COMPANY
CITIZENSHIP STAGE 2

2. FACTS ABOUT LITERACY
• Nearly half (41 to 44 percent) of all adults at the most basic level of literacy live in poverty,
compared with only 4 to 8 percent of those in the two highest proficiency levels.
• Adults of higher literacy level are more likely than those in the lower levels to vote.
• Individuals demonstrating higher levels of literacy were more likely to be employed, work
more weeks in a year, and earn higher wages than individuals demonstrating lower
proficiencies.
• Seven out of ten prisoners perform at the lowest literacy level.
• Only a little more than half of the students in today’s U.S. elementary schools learn to
read and write well enough to be functionally literate.
• More than 40% of the employees in U.S. businesses are functionally illiterate.
• More than 94 million adults in the U.S. can speak, but not read, the English language.

3. FACTS ABOUT LITERACY
• More than 40 percent of fourth grade students performed below basic levels on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in both 1994 and 1998. More than
10 percent of fourth grade children could not even participate in the NAEP due to severe
reading difficulties.
• Children who do not learn to read constitute approximately 17 percent of the population
and comprise more than 50 percent of the special education population.
• Currently 2.7 million students with learning disabilities (primarily reading disabilities)
receive special education services, an increase of 42 percent over the last decade.

4. EFFECTS OF ILLITERACY
• There are many effects of illiteracy and some can be harmful. It can affect to both individuals
and the society.
• Some effects on individuals:
1. Limited ability to obtain and understand essential information.
2. Unemployment. (The unemployment rate is 2–4 times higher among those with little schooling
than among those with Bachelor’s degrees.)
3. Lower income.
4. Lower-quality jobs.
• Some effects on the society:
1. Literacy is an essential tool for individuals and states to be competitive in the new global
knowledge economy.
2. The higher the proportion of adults with low literacy proficiency is, the slower the overall long-
term GDP growth rate is.
3. The level of community involvement and civic participation is lower.

5. ACTIONS TAKEN TO SOLVE ILLITERACY
• Non-profit organisations delivered books to children with illiteracy.
• Primary education is the basis of all education. Primary education should be made
compulsory.
• The poor parents are not able to send their children to school because of poverty. They
should be provided with financial assistance so that they can send their children to
school.
• The sending of the female children to school should be made mandatory.
• Night schools may be set up in villages so that toiling masses and elderly people can
receive education at night.
• The students of educational institutions should teach their illiterate neighbors.

6. CREDITS
• Done By: LCP Josiah, CPL Teck En, LCP Kevin Soon, LCP Daniel and LCP Terence
• Sources:
1. NAAL, National Assessment of Adult Literacy
2. https://www.learnthat.org/pages/view/literacy_facts.html
3. Literacy in the Labor Force Report, 2003 (http://literacy-research.com/)
http://www.getreadytoread.org/early-learning-childhood-basics/early-childhood/fast-facts
4. http://www.fondationalphabetisation.org/en/adults/illiteracy_literacy/consequences/
5. http://www.firstbook.org/first-book-story/overcoming-illiteracy
6. http://milon01.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-remove-mass-illiteracy