Literacy News

There aren’t enough schools, teachers, supplies or books. It takes time and money to build or buy a school building, buy paper, pencils and books, and recruit and hire teachers. Since there aren’t enough schools to begin with, it’s obvious there won’t be enough teachers as the teachers will have had to go to school to learn how to teach. There will also be a cultural bias against sending children to school in countries where the children are expected to work at an early age. If you’re a farmer, for instance, you need your children’s help in the fields. It’s difficult for families like this to see the advantage in letting a perfectly good field hand sit in a school all day when he could be helping raise the food he will eat. Another problem is the resistance to sending girls to school under any circumstances. If you look at the most backward and belligerent countries in the world, you’ll notice that they all treat girls and women with less respect than they treat their animals. Even though many countries are wealthy due to oil revenues, they are still living in the past due to their adherence to outmoded ideas of what girls and women can or should be allowed to do. This is one of the reasons those countries have such a high suicide rate among their women. As has been proved in more progressive countries, women are particularly suited to the teaching profession. Denying women the opportunity to learn has the effect of denying them the opportunity to teach, as well.

In short, there are many obstacles to achieving literacy in developing countries, none of which has a simple or fast solution.