VOICE ONE:
This is Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Doug Johnson with the VOA Special English program,EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about a continuing problem in manycountries — literacy.
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VOICE ONE:
Many people say literacy is the ability to read and write. Theysay to be considered literate, an individual must have at least someability to read or write. Some American experts say literacy is morethan that. They say it means having both the language and otherskills necessary to live and operate in society.
Fifty years ago, the United Nations declared that literacy is abasic human right. The U-N also declared that everyone has a rightto food, health care, and housing. One might think that food, healthcare and housing are more important than literacy education. Yet nowliteracy is seen as a major tool to help deal with these otherneeds.
The U-N Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization saysliteracy is important to improving the lives of individuals. UNESCOnotes that literacy has been linked to economic security and goodhealth. It says literacy increases a person’s cultural identity andunderstanding of other cultures. The U-N agency says it alsoincreases a person’s involvement in elections and public life.
VOICE TWO:
However, many people around the world are not literate. Anestimated eight-hundred-eighty million adults are not able to reador write. UNESCO officials say a majority of them are women. Theofficials add that many children will not learn to read and write inschool. More than one-hundred-ten million school age children aroundthe world do not attend school. Many others complete school or failto finish their studies without learning to read and write.
People who cannot read and write are called illiterate. Peopleare considered functionally illiterate if they cannot read or writewell enough to hold a job, finish schoolwork or vote.
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VOICE ONE:
There are many ways to measure literacy. In one method, peopleare considered literate if they have completed a number of years inschool. In another, people’s reading and writing skills are tested.The different measures of literacy, however, are not exact andcannot be easily compared.
Many countries report literacy rates for adults, fifteen years ofage and older. Using that guide, about ninety-seven percent of theadult population of the United States is literate. However, thisincludes some people who experts believe are functionallyilliterate.
VOICE TWO:
In the United States, the National Center for EducationStatistics began testing the language skills of adult Americans inNineteen-Eighty-Five. The tests are known as the National Assessmentof Adult Literacy. The Department of Education provides financialsupport for the testing.
Next year, thousands of adult Americans will be tested. It willbe the first measure of the nation’s progress in adult literacysince Nineteen-Ninety-Two.
At that time, officials tested more than twenty-six thousandAmericans, age sixteen years or older. Each person was asked to takeseveral reading and writing tests. They also answered questionsabout the amount of money they earned, their education level, andhow much time they spent reading.
VOICE ONE:
Twenty-one to twenty-three percent of those questioned nine yearsago demonstrated what officials call the lowest level of literacyskills. That represents about forty-million adult Americans.
Many adults in this level were able to answer simple questionsinvolving brief documents or books. They could identify the time orplace of a meeting on a document or identify a piece of informationin a brief news story. Other adults in this level were not able toanswer these questions. Some had such limited skills that they wereunable to answer many of the questions.
VOICE TWO:
About twenty-five percent of those with the lowest literacyskills were new arrivals to the United States. They may have beenjust learning to speak English. In addition, about sixty-fivepercent of those in this level had ended their education beforecompleting high school. More than thirty percent of the people inthe lowest level were sixty-five years of age or older. Twenty-fivepercent had health conditions that kept them from work, school,housework or other activities. Nineteen percent reported havingproblems with their eyesight.
Americans with the lowest literacy skills were less likely to beemployed. They also worked fewer weeks in a year and earned lessmoney. Those with the lowest skills were far more likely to receivegovernment assistance. And, nearly half of them were considered veryneedy.
VOICE ONE:
Many people have noted the economic effect of literacy ondevelopment. A literate and skilled population can greatly influencethe social and economic life of a nation.
There is a long tradition of using literacy programs as a way toreach political goals. In the Fifteen-Hundreds, Swedish officialsorganized one of the earliest known national literacy campaigns tospread the religion approved by the government. The goal was notonly to spread religion, but also to create a nation. Governments ofmany countries support literacy efforts as a way to strengthen theirnation.
In Nineteen-Sixty-One, for example, Cuba temporarily closed itsschools and sent teachers to the countryside to work with illiteratepeople. This campaign helped to raise the national literacy rate.Today, Cuba’s literacy rate of almost ninety-six percent is one ofthe highest in Latin America.
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VOICE TWO:
Many countries depend on the efforts of people who offer theirtime to help individuals who cannot read or write. For example,American John Mauger (pron:MAW-GUR) became concerned about theproblem of illiteracy three years ago. He became so concerned thathe started teaching five prisoners at a police station near his homein Brazil.
Until three years ago, Mister Mauger had never worked as ateacher. As a young man in the United States, he worked as anairplane mechanic. He served in the American Air Force during theWorld War Two. After the war, he accepted an offer to move to Brazilto show Brazilian workers how to repair airplane engines. That wasfifty-three years ago. Mister Mauger is now eighty-five years oldand still lives in Brazil.
VOICE ONE:
Mister Mauger says his teaching method can help anyone learn howto read or write with about thirty hours of study. He says hedeveloped the system with his first group of prisoners. He saysother men jailed at the police station showed interest in theprogram. Then, he began teaching at a large prison. He also hasworked with small groups of non-prisoners.
People wishing to learn his system must first know how to writeletters of the alphabet and learn which sounds they represent. Thesystem divides letters into three groups. The first group of letterscan be written between two lines. The second can be written betweentwo lines, but part of the letter is above the top line. The thirdgroup has letters that are partly written below the lower line.
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John Mauger’s students in Brazil make simple Portuguese wordsfrom the letters. He then teaches them how to make more thanseven-hundred words. He says many of his former students can nowwrite to family members. They also can read newspapers andmagazines.
The chief at the local police station has expressed support forthe teaching method. Mister Mauger says he is pleased with how otherBrazilians have reacted. He says the system works so well inPortuguese he developed a similar method to teach people how to readand write in English. ((Recently, he helped to design an Internetweb site that explains his system in both languages. Computer userscan find this information athttp://www.persocom.com.br/ottug/alfabeto.)) OPT
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VOICE ONE:
UNESCO officials report that there has been progress in improvingliteracy rates during the past century. About eighty percent ofadults are literate today. In Nineteen-Seventy, less than sixty-fivepercent were literate.
In late October, a committee of the United Nations approved aproposal designed to aid literacy programs in developing countries.Under the proposal, the General Assembly would declare a specialobservance, called the United Nations Literacy Decade. The ten-yearperiod would begin on January first, Two-Thousand-Three.
The proposed U-N resolution says that literacy for all is closelylinked to the idea of education for all. It says literateenvironments are needed to help the poor, improve the treatment ofwomen, and guarantee development.
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VOICE TWO:
This VOA Special English program was written by George Grow. Thisis Doug Johnson.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Shirley Griffith. Listen again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.