WORLD LITERACY DAY

Unfortunately, around 1 in 5 people are not literate. Additionally, around 3 billion people in the world struggle with basic level reading and writing . This has significant economic, social, and health impacts at both- individual and societal level.

When a high proportion of the adult population has poor literacy skills, many positions remain vacant as insufficient individuals are adequately skilled to fulfil those roles. This results in slower GDP growth in the long term.

Individuals with low levels of literacy are more likely to experience poor employment opportunities , outcomes and lower income. As a result, they often face welfare dependency, low self-esteem, and higher levels of crime. Moreover, people with a low level of literacy have limited ability to make important informed decisions in everyday life as they struggle with tasks such as filling out forms and applications, understanding government policies, reading medicine or nutritional labels, and more.

Additionally, parents who are functionally illiterate often prioritize work before education, have lower expectations in regards to schooling, and the children of parents who fail to complete primary school are more likely to follow their footsteps and do likewise. This leads to a cycle of disadvantage through generations. On the other hand, strong literacy skills among parents will have positive impacts on their children’s lives as they are more able to help and encourage their children in their schoolwork and communicate with their teachers effectively.

Moreover, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the great lack of health literacy globally. During this time, many people were challenged in understanding and applying the health information provided by health professionals and the government. Adequate health literacy is important in ensuring that people are able to understand and correctly apply health information to prevent disease, and the failure to do so increases the risk for disease transmission.

Early interventions targeting children in early childhood could be the most effective approach to increase literacy skills in the long term.

Developing literacy and language skills before formal schooling sets a child up for success in school and life. Children with a poor foundation in literacy before entering formal schooling are more likely to struggle academically and to drop out of school, increasing their likelihood of facing poorer employment and social outcomes in the future. Moreover, the quality of the environment at home and early childhood services is one of the key factors for literacy development.

With the significant economic, social, and health costs low levels of literacy on individuals, communities, and societies, this is a global issue that needs to be addressed. Investing in early childhood literacy programs will bring back greater returns not only economically, but also returns in health and social outcomes.

GISK has conducted Debate on “World literacy day” bringing the awareness among the learners and importance of education in every individual.

Learners have participated in sharing their views and ideas to support the education which will help the country in all the sectors. Specially they have highlighted on GDP, employment and Health etc.