by Sue Myburgh

Created on: April 19, 2008

For most of those who live in Minority World countries (and by this I mean developed, industrialised nations), literacy is so widespread that it is a transparent skill. Many people do not consider that those they meet in their daily lives may not be able to read or write and, indeed, this is seldom the case. High rates of functional literacy (that is, being able to read and write with the skills and speed of an average Year 6 student) mean that most individuals are able to read bus timetables, apply for jobs, read instructions and directions on machines, food and medicines, and read newspapers and popular magazines.

The advantages of being literate in our Minority World societies are many and it is hard to imagine how somebody could survive withot literacy and numeracy. How, for example, can they complete their tax returns? But, and perhaps even more importantly, it means that literate people can be independent and autonomous to a far greater extent, as they are able to understand the ideas recorded by others, without necessarily having to meet the creator of the idea. They can read a printed bus timetable in the middle of the night, when no-one else is awake; they can also consider a number of conflicting opinions on controversial topics.

Being illiterate is, in many ways, similar to being in a prison. It means that you are totally dependent on the people you happen to meet for the information you require. If you don't meet the right person, you may never get the right information, or you might get information that is inaccurate or incomplete. It means you are unable to determine how to use a piece of machinery, how to read an advertisement for a job, or when to take your tablets. It also means that the knowledge that you do have is constricted to what you have experienced yourself, or what others have told you - those others being the people you happened to meet - and not the great thoughts that humans have had at different places and times.

There is a strong argument to suggest that in today's world, it is virtually impossibly to be economically active if you are illiterate (and innumerate). But while this is clear in the Minority World, is this really the case in Majority World countries, such as the nations of Africa?

Illiteracy rates in Africa are very high, exagerated perhaps by the number of people under the age of 18 who have yet to be educated, or who are still at school. There are a number of obstacles to literacy: children have very little pre-literacy

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