By Barend ter Haar.
Mankind is confronted by many threats and challenges. Some of them are very visible and therefore get a lot of attention, with the risk of an overreaction. At the other end of the spectrum are dangers that, although very real, are difficult to see and therefore often neglected. Illiteracy may be the prime example of a widespread and very serious threat that is easily overlooked.
Take for example the Netherlands. “Only” around 250.000 Dutch adults, that is about 1.7% of the adult population, is completely illiterate, but the number of people that is functionally illiterate is ten times higher. If you are able to write your own name and to read signs like IN and SALE you are not completely illiterate, but in order to participate fully in a modern society much more is needed, such as reading communications from your employer, filling in tax forms, understanding leaflets for medications, etc. etc.
Two and a half million Dutchmen, about 17 % of the adult population, are not able to fulfill such tasks and are therefore hindered from participating fully in society[1]. Functional illiteracy is an enormous problem, but it is almost invisible because the people concerned usually feel ashamed about it and try to hide their inability. As a result one can easily get the impression that in the Netherlands illiteracy is non-existent, or only of marginal significance.
Governments are usually not eager to make their failures visible. That is why international organizations can play an essential role by monitoring the situation in countries and by publishing relevant facts and figures. One might expect that UNESCO, as the global organization for education, would therefore confront Dutch citizens and their government with the harsh realities of illiteracy. However, the contrary is the case. When one looks for literacy figures in its publications, such as the UNESCO eAtlas of Literacy[2], one finds literacy figures of almost every country in the world, except for the Netherlands and most other OECD countries. Rather than making clear that illiteracy is a global problem, these publications (and the reports of World Bank and UNICEF that are based on UNESCO statistics) give the false impression that illiteracy is only a problem for so-called “developing” countries and not for “developed” countries such as the Netherlands.
As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. […] [It is] the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman, and child can realize his or her full potential.”
This is true for all people, no matter whether they live in rich or in poor countries.
[1] See the report of the Court of Audit: http://www.courtofaudit.nl/english/Latest_News/All_newsitems/2016/04/Adults_with_literacy_and_numeracy_difficulties_gap_between_problem_and_government_policy
[2] http://tellmaps.com/uis/literacy/#!/profile/WORLD/NLD
