The problem of illiteracy might not be a novelty in the modern world. Although education is continuously developing, numerous individuals in society cannot read and write. In this essay, I will shed light on the disadvantages, and propose some effective solutions to tackle this issue.
It is clearly seen that there are many drawbacks associated with illiteracy. One of them is the social impact due to illiterate people having low self-esteem or feeling emotions such as shame, fear, and powerlessness. As a result, they have to struggle to know their rights, to vote, to find work, to pay bills and to secure employment. This impacts an individual’s opportunity to fully participate in a democratic society. Another disadvantage is the economic impact. This means that people struggling with literacy are more likely to be poor, lack education and miss out on opportunities to participate fully in society and the workforce. For example, some African countries have a high rate of illiterate citizens, so they are also the poorest countries on the globe. Consequently, the lack of qualified and skilled workforce impacts the development of the economy and living standards of citizens as they have low income.
It is necessary to put forth possible solutions to alleviate the detrimental impacts of this issue. First and foremost, the government should allocate more funds for education for the underprivileged. For instance, they can build more schools in remote areas, provide free education programs, improve facilities or give more teachers to improve the intellectual level of disadvantaged people. Secondly, schools and families should collaborate to educate their children. This means that schools and parents need to regularly connect with each other to monitor and promote students’ learning process. Therefore, parents can create conditions for their children to have opportunities to learn and develop.
To conclude, illiteracy causes many negative consequences for both individuals and society, so feasible measures should be done to address this worrying issue.