September 8th
-- International Day of Literacy
September 8th is the International
Day for Literacy. Illiteracy is understood to be “an inability to read and
write, with understanding, a short simple sentence about one’s everyday life.”
There are over one billion illiterate people
in the world, almost two thirds of them women. Most live in Third World
countries. More than 14.6 percent of Canadians are illiterate, unable to read a
medicine bottle that holds pills needed required to keep them healthy.
The statistics don’t do justice to the
disadvantage illiteracy represents. Imagine a young person who has a learning
disability that goes undiagnosed through school. They obtain low marks and
attribute this to their lack of intelligence. They may drop out. The person may
not be able to read a paper or identify items on a restaurant menu. Job ads may
be indecipherable. The list goes on.
This deficit imposes two devastating effects
on life: the person becomes increasingly isolated from their community and
feelings of inadequacy increase. Without self respect, treating one’s own
body and surroundings is often a challenge. It is easy for a person to get
trapped in a downward spiral of poverty. It is much harder to climb out.
The saddest thing about illiteracy is that so
little is done when so much can be accomplished. The Canadian Broadcast
Corporation (CBC) recently reported that the situation has scarcely improved
over the past 15 years.
Sweden, on the other hand, has an illiteracy
rate that is 7.5 per cent, almost half of Canada’s. Sweden has fought
illiteracy by developing an adult education program that is easily accessible to
people who need it and provides enough support for its poorest citizens to take
advantage of the opportunity.
We must take steps to ensure that young
people coming out of our school system are provided every opportunity to learn
and develop. This means the province must increase spending for staff such as
educational assistants in the classroom. Expanded breakfast and lunch programs
are required. And every child for whom a special needs assessment is recommended
must receive one, without delay.
On this day I ask you to contact your MPP, by
phone, letter or e-mail and let him/her know that Canada’s current illiteracy
rate is shameful. We expect them to take definitive action to wrestle it down.
Now.
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