The Impotence of the Illiterate

Once again the UK’s ’unacceptably high’ illiteracy levels are making headlines. Despite £5bn invested in various programmes, British levels of literacy are still below many of the developed nations of the world: in 2003 the UK was ranked 14th and recent government plans to ensure that 95% of the population ‘achieve enough literacy and numeracy to get by in life by 2020′ only bring the UK in line with current 2009 levels elsewhere.

From the vantage point of publishing, trying to reach those who can barely read might seem less important, or much more of a challenge, than reaching those who already buy books or those who could be persuaded to buy one more…at the right price. But from a national perspective illiteracy is a human disaster. Being illiterate prevents engagement with every level of the functioning world, from buying food to reading a map and, crucially, helping the next generation. If a parent can’t read then it’s unlikely their child will find it easy to do so. I found this out when I was a student, through a strange coincidence.

Once a week I taught adult basic education, slipping away from my ivory tower to urban streets to share what I then thought of as my great knowledge. I enjoyed myself, though I doubt I taught or helped anyone much. However, by knowing about the class I did, eventually, help one woman. Stuck in the back of a cab late one night, I started talking to the driver. She was bemoaning the fact that she couldn’t read to her little girl and how upsetting it was now that her daughter wanted a bedtime story every night. At first I thought it was being out at work that was the obstacle, but then she explained that she’d never learnt to read. In passing I mentioned the classes I had been involved with, and suggested that she investigate local adult education in her area. She thanked me, and we moved onto some other topic of conversation.

I thought nothing of this until three years later when I got into the woman’s cab again. She asked me what I did for a living and, having told her that I was a teacher, extraordinarily she relayed the story of having met another teacher in the back of her cab a few years earlier who had told her about classes and how, as a result, she had learnt to read…the teacher we realised was me and whereas she was full of thanks I was amazed that having known one small fact, I had helped her change her life, and hopefully her daughter’s.

It’s a very small story but for her it was a very big one and it showed me how little knowledge it took to change a life for the better. Not having that knowledge is something affecting a large proportion of our population, their children and, to be brutal, the future of publishing.

Also, as two of the biggest films of the New Year so far - The Reader and Che - point out, in fragile political times, when economies are stretched and jobs and livelihoods threatened, an illiterate population is much easier to control and influence. And not always for the better. I’m not suggesting that the current economic climate is equivalent to 1940s Germany or 1950s Cuba but these are strange days indeed…