Every issue that our society faces is like a link of a chain. Each issue is connected to another, either directly or indirectly. The chain of issues in this society that we live in, the strongest link of that chain is illiteracy. Illiteracy is the mother of all issues as it gives birth to many other issues like poverty, unemployment, child labour, female foeticide, population burst and many more.
The world of illiterate people is like a vast endless desert where literacy is like an oasis, a fertile land with fresh water flowing and majestic palm trees growing. Illiteracy keeps people chained to ignorance and superstition and is an obstacle in the path of civilization. With literacy comes awareness and awareness brings progress, culture and civilization. Illiteracy brings ignorance, and ignorance leads to wars and controversies. God made man in his own image but today humans stand divided in the name of religion, colours and borders. Earth is the blue planet of our solar system, but today, humans are painting it red with each other's blood. The main cause of all this, undoubtedly is illiteracy. The written word is the most powerful of weapons and once illiteracy and poverty are given an extinct status, a revolution greater than ever witnessed in history might occur, leading to the creation of a progressive and peaceful world.
Illiteracy is indeed like the curse on human race. Instead of believing in family planning, illiterates believe that more the children they have, more the bread earners they will have. These poverty-ridden people cannot afford to educate their children and as a result, the children end up working for low wages at a small age, being deprived of their precious childhood. Instead of taking medicines to cure diseases, illiterates go to quacks, who give them charms, promising miracles that never actually happen.
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What are the causes of illiteracy?
There are so many reasons why an individual can be illiterate. These are some of the causes of the inability to read or write:
- Illiteracy among parents: Many illiterate parents do not put much emphasis on the importance of education. Several of those born to parents who can neither read nor write end up being illiterate
- Lack of family support: This can be the cause of illiteracy more so where a child has difficulty reading or writing because of dyslexia. In a situation where the family does not understand the child’s condition, it may simply be assumed that he or she is not a bright person and maybe school is not meant for everyone.
- Unemployment of the educated: Some people believe that the only reason someone should go to school is so that he or she can get a good job and make a good life. Without the promise of employment, education is not a necessity to them. In a country where many of the educated are unemployed, there may not be enough motivation for the illiterate to go to school.
- Lack of awareness: In places where several members of the local population do not understand why it is important for them to go to school, the level of illiteracy may be high. Disinterest in the benefits of formal learning can also be caused by lack of awareness on the importance of going to school. The number of illiterate people in urban areas tends to be lower than that of those in rural areas.
- Social barriers: Many social barriers such as restrictions on girls’ education in some societies lead to illiteracy among the affected segment of the population. Education of the girl child has been an issue in some parts of the world
- Poverty: Poor parents with low incomes find it difficult to pay school fees. They are forced to choose between providing basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing and taking their children to school. In countries where basic education is not free.
How to make the world a better place
Illiteracy leads poverty and poverty leads
increase crimes rate in the society, they are joint from each other now I will go
in the detail how to only one illiteracy can lead poverty and crime together & what should we do to control the illiteracy rate
Above I have mentioned causes of illiteracy now
will tell how to illiteracy can lead poverty
Over
the past fifteen years, the proportion of the population living under extreme
poverty in Pakistan has risen from 13 to 33 percent but illiteracy has declined
during this period. Therefore, the explanation for the increase in poverty in
Pakistan cannot be attributed to illiteracy.India has a considerably higher literacy rate than Pakistan but
the incidence of poverty in India was comparable to that in Pakistan for many
years. The recent trend in poverty reduction in India cannot be
attributed to a sudden increase in literacy.
This is not to argue that illiteracy does not matter. Clearly a
literate workforce can be much more productive than an illiterate one
everything else remaining the same. And literacy can contribute positively to
the quality of life of an individual for which reason it is considered a basic
human right. But the fact remains that there is not sufficient evidence to
establish that illiteracy is the most basic reason for poverty.
A
closer look at the evidence might suggest that the causes of poverty have less
to do with literacy or democracy and much more to do with economic and
political policies.
The evidence of the impact of economic policies on poverty
reduction is quite impressive. East Asia is a well documented example where the
number of people living on less than one dollar a day has fallen almost
two-thirds, from 720 million in 1975 to 210 million in 2002 almost entirely
because of the rapidity of economic growth. India has also begun moving in the
right direction after key economic reforms have relaxed the stifling grip of the licence
On the other side are countries like Pakistan where ruling
groups allocate the bulk of national resources to defense, foreign policy
adventures, fomenting domestic strife to manipulate political power or in
stifling business to protect vested interests. It is not surprising that
foreign and domestic investors are reluctant to invest in such countries.
Without investment, there is little job growth; and without job growth little
prospect of reduction in poverty.
What we really need to explain is the persistence of illiteracy in some countries or parts of some countries. And this has to do with the interests, choices and decisions of the literate sections of these countries.
When analysts begin to explain the political economy of continued impoverishment, when people understand the real causes of their poverty, and when political parties mobilize them on the basis of this understanding, perhaps then there will be hope for change in countries that have short changed their citizens by keeping them poor and illiterate.
We will discuss the fact that poverty causes crime. Poverty is a characteristic of the economic situation of the individual or social group in which they cannot satisfy a certain range of the minimum requirements needed for life saving ability. Poverty is a relative concept and depends on the overall standard of living in this society.
According to experts, not getting decent wages for their work, young people gradually lose the desire to marry, marry, have children - they are full of fear for tomorrow, not sure that tomorrow they will not be fired because of another financial crisis. In addition, low wages and lack of jobs, experts say, are pushing young people to commit crimes in order to get rich quickly. It is, therefore, among criminals, increases the number of adolescents, aged 18 to 25 years.
If poverty causes crime than why are crime rates lower in poor third world countries than in wealthy super powers? Robert Rector feels that it is not poverty that causes crime but the anti-poverty programs that cause crime. He feels that the United States has created its own crime problem because the U.S. pays people not to work or be married through the welfare program. In a sense people are being rewarded for doing nothing.
The welfare program causes crime because it creates an unhealthy environment for children; it teaches them that you do not have to work hard in life to be rewarded. The welfare program only provides enough for a family to barely get by so people get "greedy" and don't want to have to work so they turn to crime so they can be better off. It spoils people in a way because after you have been on welfare for awhile you begin to develop a "why should I work if I don't have to" attitude!
As a fact, crimes begin from the childhood. As a rule, if a child was born in a poor family, there are more chances that he will start committing crimes. All over the world there is propaganda of a luxurious way of life, of successful people, of expensive mansions, cars, of beautiful journeys, etc. When children and adolescents see that and understand that parents will not provide them with all these things, they start looking for the opportunity to get money fast to buy at least something. And consequently they decide to commit a crime. The crimes committed by adolescents are considered the cruelest. The majority of cases of all crimes show that a driving force of the crimes is the money. The values of the society are built the way that those people with the problems in their minds decide to bring closer all these luxurious things.
One of the main aspects that can prevent poverty is education. If children are educated properly, then they will perceive the reality as it is and they will try to succeed in legal ways to study, to get a job. Sometimes, crimes are the symptom of the culture, and education can cure the cultural poverty and financial poverty will be cured itself, as a consequence.
As a fact, not only poor people commit crimes, as there are also rich people who have no boundaries in their actions and power and they also commit crimes to get more money and power
So we need to control/stop illiteracy so that poverty and crimes The two monsters automatically keep in control
What
are the possible solutions to stop or control illiteracy?
- Free education: The provision of free education in schools, colleges, and universities by the government can play a major role in reducing the level of illiteracy in a country by getting more people to school
- Awareness: Creating awareness about the importance of education can help people understand why they need to go to school. Non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and other concerned parties should put in place deliberate measures to create awareness in the society and reduce the number of people who are unable to read and write.
- Late night classes: Working people can opt for late night classes. In this way, they can learn even as they earn income through their daytime jobs.
- Free books: The government and different foundations can offer free books in schools to encourage students to develop a reading culture. Offering free books can also reduce the financial burden placed on parents in the provision of textbooks.
- Digitization: Since we live in the age of technology and information, creating digital platforms for reading and learning can help reduce illiteracy in the society. It can also help take care of the challenge of shortage of education facilities. Digital libraries can provide a good platform for those who live far away from urban centers to expand their knowledge base and become more informed.
- Lower educational cost: Even though education has its rewards, it is very costly to finance. Many graduates usually leave school with huge debts in the form of student loans. It makes saving and investing difficult. The cost of university education has been a key political and social issue in many nations. By lowering the cost of education, the government can make it easier for people to study up to the highest level possible.
Illiteracy can bring down even the most powerful nations down, so if we are to become a developed nation, the government should first remove the problem of illiteracy by introducing effective programs with proper implementation and budget.
Every literate citizen should contribute in battling with the demon of illiteracy. if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”.
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