As an American, I have been told from a very early age that
education is the key to success as an individual. I was told millions of times by teachers that
reading is fundamental, education is power, the key to your success is through
education, blah blah blah. I, as a
skeptic, didn’t really believe this.
Hard work, I said, was the key to success. As I got older I found that the answer to
being a successful adult is…well, it’s both.
One funny thing I have learned on this planet for my short
time: Entire nations usually have the
characteristics of their people. If you
think about this fact, you’ll see that every nation takes on the personality of
the people that reside within the borders.
Now, this is likely an overblown and broad generalization, of
course. But, it makes sense…just think
about it.
So, as I was thinking about literacy the other day, I was
curious about how well people read around the world. Why was I pondering this, you ask? I do not know. Curiosity, I suppose. Boredom, most likely. But, I digress. When I have a question that keeps nagging at
the back of my brain, I do one thing…I consult the Internet. I decided that I wanted to see for myself if
there was a connection of how well we read to the relative success of our
nation. While looking at the statistics,
from various sources, it appears that there is a severe correlation between overall
literacy rates for citizens and the economic status of a country. Overall, if
the people of a particular nation read fairly well then that nation will have a
better chance to achieve world prominence…or at least relevance.
For example, there are a number of nations with literacy
rates of less than thirty percent. Keep
in mind, literacy rates are often defined as a person aged 15 or older that can
read or write. Just telling you that for
clarity. Anyway, Niger (29%), South
Sudan (27%), Afghanistan (28%), and Burkina Faso (21%) are all nations that
fall into the category of, what I like to call, life-threatening literacy
poverty. As we know, or can easily find
out, each of these nations has little political power, resources have been
dwindled to nearly nothing, and each has very little wealth, either personal or
political. These countries are poor.
Well, these countries are beyond poor.
They passed poor ten bus stops ago.
These nations are into territory of poverty that your average American
cannot fathom.
Basically folks, if your people can’t read then your nation
will suffer economically and politically.
So, what can we do?
Get people to read! Yeah I know,
it’s easier said than done in most cases.
Also, there are often cultural norms that prevent a lone proselytizer of
literacy (like myself) from walking into Riyadh and saying “I will teach anyone
to read if you want to learn”. The
powers that be may not want that to happen.
In many nations, even if higher literacy rates are a good thing, overall,
a higher percentage of citizens who read well may prove problematic to
incumbent power bases. So, in many
instances getting the people of the world to read can be an uphill battle.
But, this is a battle worth fighting.
I always hated when my teachers were right. Reading is fundamental. Education is power. And, dang it, the key to success IS through
education.
*For an excellent example of what can be done to change
world literacy rates, check out the work that the organization, Room To Read is doing in some of the
poorest nations around the world. Just
amazing work, these people do.
Author: Josh Mincey (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Distance Learning Specialist)
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