Governments around the world justifiably focus their resources on the education of younger generations. However, I strongly believe that more money should be spent on helping illiterate adults learn to read and write.
Firstly, since adults who are not able to read and write are faced with tremendous difficulties in both personal and professional life, literacy courses provide them with necessary knowledge and skills to overcome such problems. For example, participants of these classes will no longer feel helpless when they need to read a piece of story for their children before bed or write an email for their friends. Similarly, they will no longer be deprived of promotion opportunities at work solely on the basis of their literacy skills, or the lack thereof. The provision of adult education, thus, liberates individuals with low-literacy levels and empowers them to succeed both personally and professionally.
Besides this, countries deciding to invest more in adult education will also reap financial rewards. This is because a better educated workforce can act as a precursor to fostering economic growth, as seen in countries such as Vietnam, where a causal link was found in the crusade to eradicate illiteracy and economic development. Furthermore, since literate parents are repeatedly found to be better at rearing their children, investing in adult education will produce better-raised children. The corollary of this investment would be a sustainable economy and a better society.
In conclusion, giving access to education for illiterate adults is a sensible and economically sound initiative and therefore should be adopted more widely.