The reason behind the success of developing countries is their higher education rate. One of the reasons why our country is beyond them is the increasing illiteracy in Pakistan. Illiteracy can be defined as the inability of a person to read and write. It is one of the biggest social issues of the world right now which doesn’t only affect t a person but the whole society. Illiteracy is the root cause of many big problems in our country such as poverty, lower GDP, increasing street crimes, unemployment, and many more. All these issues limit the opportunities of society to progress.
The current literacy rate of Pakistan is about 59% which means that 41% of our population is still uneducated. Reading and writing are the essential and most important abilities for human beings. Illiterate people have no awareness about most of the things in the world. They are not informed about the current country crisis therefore they cannot participate in the well-being of society. The illiteracy rate is still very high in our country and we should try to lower it so that we can raise our standard of living and our country can progress towards being a better society.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF ILLITERACY?
There are many reasons for increasing illiteracy. The main reason could be poverty and an expensive educational system, as many people in Pakistan aren’t even able to eat 3 times a day, so how will they educate their children in these circumstances? Also, our educational system has become so expensive that even middle-class people cannot afford it. The fees, books, uniforms, and other extra charges in private schools are very unaffordable. Our government must make education easy and less expensive for people so that we can educate our upcoming generation.
Another main reason for illiteracy is uneducated parents. Many parents, especially in the rural areas think that education is not much important for a person. They have their agricultural lands from where they can earn enough money to survive and that’s why they do not pay much attention to their children’s education. Therefore, we must tell those people the importance of education and that education is not only important for jobs or earning money.
SOME IMPACTS OF ILLITERACY:
Illiteracy causes irreparable damages to our society. The future generation is our asset and if they do not get proper education, it is a huge loss for us as a society. Uneducated people have to face a lot of difficulties in their life. The first and most difficult thing is to find a reputable job that provides you with a handsome salary. Uneducated people have to work hard just to earn some pennies. Uneducated people have fewer chances of getting employed and earning a good salary which eventually becomes a cause of homelessness.
Illiteracy also causes poor health conditions as an uneducated have not much information about his health and about the symptoms of many common diseases which if not treated properly can become dangerous. Illiterate people also don’t pay much attention to hygiene. They don’t understand the importance of hygienic food and clean water which leads them to many dangerous diseases. These people are also heavily involved in smoking, drinking, drugs, and obesity as they don’t know the consequences of these things.
Uneducated people can never raise their standard of living and their lifestyle according to society because they don’t have enough information and resources for the new technologies and new inventions. Illiterate people can also suffer from low self-esteem in society. When a person cannot read and write properly, he also faces difficulty in communicating with people. They can feel out of the place and left in the company of educated people.
It is very difficult for illiterate people to find jobs so they get involved in crimes and snatching to earn some money so we can say that the increasing crime rates in our country are also one of the results of illiteracy. People find it easy to just snatch some money rather than working hard and finding a good job. Begging is also one of the issues which are caused by unemployment and illiteracy.
Lastly, an uneducated person can never raise their children well because they do not have much knowledge about children’s development and how to build a bond with them. They can’t help their children when they face the hardships of life and their children also feels hesitant in communicating with them.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO REDUCE ILLITERACY?
Most of the issues in our society are aroused because of illiteracy hence, it is not only our government’s duty to reduce illiteracy but being a reason responsible citizen we are also obliged to take part in solving this issue. Government should try to make schooling less expensive so that everyone can afford it. They should try to distribute rewards among the deserving students, help poor children by giving them scholarships. Apart from that, the government should also organize some teaching programs for the parents to inform them about the importance of education and why they should educate their children. The educated and rich people in our society can also help in reducing illiteracy by spending their money and knowledge on the poor ones.
Education is not just important for jobs or earning money but it is essential to make you a better, kind and wise person. It is necessary to confidently survive in society. Knowledge gives you the different aspects of looking at things and helps you in exploring new places, meeting new people, and analyzing new things from the world. Education is a vital need of every human being and it is the right of every person to get educated.