Citizenship Badgework (Rajvinder, Joseph Pong & Nighil)

1. Literacy
1. the quality or state of
being literate, especially
the ability to read and
write.
2. possession of
education: to question
someone's literacy.
3. a person's knowledge
of a particular subject or
field: to acquire
computer literacy;
improving your financial
literacy.

2. Statistics on Literacy
• Today, nearly 17% of the world’s adult population is still not
literate; two thirds of them women, making gender equality
even harder to achieve.
• The scale of illiteracy among youth also represents an
enormous challenge; an estimated 122 million youth globally
are illiterate, of which young women represent 60.7%.

3. Statistics on Literacy
• The 67.4 million children who are out of school are more likely
to encounter greater difficulties in the future than those who
graduated due to deficient or non-existent basic education.
• With some 775 million adults lacking minimum
literacy skills, literacy for all thus remains elusive.

4. Critical Moments
• The real problems associated with being illiterate involve critical parts of
life.
• such as understanding medical instruction, applying for a loan, signing a
contract, or getting basic job training.
• These life-altering situations are often the path to a better life, yet
without the ability to read often comes misunderstanding and confusion
which perpetuates the cycle of poverty and illness. In fact, poverty and
burden from diseases correlate directly with illiteracy and low literacy.
• Life expectancy is lowest in places where many people are illiterate.

5. Interesting Facts
• Low Literacy cost the
United States over $200 Billion
every year.
• Nearly 800 million people
worldwide are illiterate.
• 1 in 5 people in the world are
illiterate, 2/3 of them being
women.

6. Factors of illiteracy
• Illiteracy is linked to higher rates of:
1. Unemployment
2. Crime
3. Long-Term Illness
4. Prejudice against Women

7. Unemployment
• Reading and writing are essential skills for job acquisition and progression.
• Illiterate people earn 30% – 42% less than their literate counterparts, and
often struggle with poor communication, barriers towards advancement,
and decreased productivity.

8. Crime
• Statistics show a correlation between high crime rates and illiteracy.
• In the United States alone, 85% of all juveniles involved in the juvenile
court system are functionally illiterate and about half of the adults
entering the prison system never graduated from high school.

9. Long-Term Illness
• Illiteracy significantly limits a person’s ability to access, understand, and
apply health related information into their lives.
• In developing countries, a child born to a literate mother is 50 percent
more likely to survive past the age of five.

10. Prejudice against Women
• A literate woman is more likely to seek
- fair treatment,
-access to health and reproductive information,
-opportunity to send her children to school.
• Literate women tend to be more economically independent
and participate in her societies’ political and social structure.

11. Credits
• http://watchdogwire.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/florida/files/2013/03/literacy-
problems-functional-illiteracy-in-america-630x286.jpg
• http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-
blocks/literacy/resources/statistics
• http://www.speakingbooks.com/impact/overview.html
• http://www.literacypartners.org/literacy-in-america/literacy-facts
• http://worldliteracyfoundation.org/
• http://www.ielts-mentor.com/
• http://www.undp.org/
• http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/en/