Enhancing literacy

Two separate surveys carried out by the Adult Literacy Tutors Association and the University of the West Indies place this country’s actual literacy rate at about 75 to 80 percent. That is, nearly a quarter of adults cannot read simple forms, instructions, or even street signs. Only half the adults can read well enough to handle a cross-section of everyday tasks, such as reading the newspapers or understanding medicine labels. Yet even that figure is misleading, since the percentage of people with high-order literacy — that is, persons able to critically analyse what they read — is no doubt even lower.

Literacy can be divided into three categories. The basic category is technical competence — the ability to read and write grammatically. The second, higher-level category is understanding — the ability to follow and internalise the written subject matter. The third, and highest level, is analytical reading — the ability to understand the written material in such a way as to detect logical errors and discrepancies.

Any country which wants to attain developed-nation status must have over 90 percent of its populace in the basic literacy category. An advanced nation can only be advanced if it has a skilled workforce, and a skilled worker must, at the very least, be able to read technical manuals. It is no longer enough, as it was even a mere 30 years ago, to have practical knowledge and follow verbal instructions. Industry changes too fast and daily operations happen too quickly for such workers to be efficient.

Additionally, a developed country must have a large percentage of its population with second-order literacy. These are the service workers, clerks, and professionals who maintain the bureaucracy which is crucial for any modern society. If a country does not have a sufficient number of such persons, then all developmental efforts will simply come to naught, no matter how many energy dollars are earned. There is also the socio-cultural aspect. A society may have all its technical measures in place, yet still fail to progress because cultural traits keep back development. In this area, a society needs at least 20 percent of its adult population to be high-order literates — persons capable of critical and creative thinking.

Given all this, can we say that Trinidad and Tobago’s literacy level reflects a developmental path? The facts are not encouraging. In the CXC English Language examination, there has been a decline in the number of passes, so fewer and fewer people are now able to read Education Minister Hazel Manning’s full-page print ads praising her Ministry’s initiatives.

At tertiary level, the Government has had to institute a Transitional Studies programme to bring students up to the required level to enter the University of Trinidad and Tobago. In UWI itself, lecturers continually bemoan the lack of writing skills among students who have obtained high passes at Advanced Level.

In the wider society, there is no full-fledged publishing house in the country or, indeed, the Caribbean region — a crucial support for maintaining literacy in any society. Additionally, high-order literacy is undermined by the fact that there are individuals in charge of educational institutions who promote false ideas, particularly in history and science.

If the Government is serious about attaining developed-nation status, then enhancing literacy must be a core goal. A good start would be to do an official survey to discover what our real literacy rate is and what the problems are. Only then will the State be able to provide this most basic tool of modern life to the majority of its citizens.