Causes and Effects of Illiteracy

The very first amendment to the United States Constitution promotes the freedom of speech and demonstrates how every human should have the right to express their own ideals. With this in mind, it is extremely unfortunate that over 775 million people around the globe are illiterate and another 152 million children are set to follow the same path to illiteracy. In our society, it is vital that all humans have the ability to communicate and express their ideas. Many American students take their education for granted as America is known to be one of the more developed countries of the world. Many are fortunate enough to be raised in societies where going to school is second nature, with libraries scattered around alongside teachers and facilities that can cater to our learning requirements. However, a large margin of students don’t have unwavering access to educational content and have to make do with what they can. If a child lacks education, they will not be able to pursue their desires in life and will be restricted from other societal roles. This blog reviews key reasons why individuals lack education and how this lack of education can negatively impact an individual’s life.

The most dominant reason why an individual lacks schooling is due to the fact that they or their community lacks the resources to attain an education. This is especially a trend in developing countries or third-world-countries. Many of the poorest countries in the world do not have access to the adequate financial resources necessary to create schools. Providing schooling materials along with recruiting and training teachers costs money, and aid from fellow countries generally is not sufficient enough to establish an education system for all children. Additionally, over 300 million children between the ages of five and 17 years are engaged in forced labor worldwide. Most of these children work to financially support their families, making child labor a significant contributor to high numbers of students being out of school. Parents, as well as governments, are more concerned about other important things such as finding food, shelter and water for the families.

Millions of children around the globe are lacking an education due to factors they are unjustly born with. They don’t have the knowledge to complete basic tasks, which are essential to their daily life. These unfortunate situations are prevalent in developing countries due to the lack of resources and funds to construct an adequate education infrastructure. Cognitive Exchange is a non-profit organization which aims to combat these deprivations. We do this through hosting speech and debate courses around the world to people in need. Cognitive Exchange has impacted over 4,000 students in over 60 schools and continues to do so every week. As expressed earlier, communication is a crucial aspect of today’s society and it is a vital goal which fuels Cognitive Exchange.

Written By: Sachit Murthy