The fight against illiteracy
The real situation in France and worldwide
Over 860 million men and women in the world today are unable to read and write.
We also observe that all the industrialized countries, despite compulsory schooling, are affected by functional illiteracy. The phenomenon is often under-estimated and badly understood and confused with others. For people who have never been schooled, we use the term illiteracy. These people need to begin learning for the first time. New arrivals in a country need to learn the language of that country. In France, we talk about “French as a foreign language”.
Functional illiteracy concerns people who, after schooling in their country, have not acquired sufficient mastery of reading, writing and arithmetic to be autonomous in simple everyday situations such as writing a shopping list, reading medicine instructions or safety instructions, writing a check, using an appliance, doing simple arithmetic, reading their child’s school report, reading a book, etc. We can imagine the consequences of this for work, health and family life.
According to the “Information and Everyday Life” survey conducted by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) in partnership with the French National Agency to Fight Illiteracy (ANLCI) in 2005, it is estimated that in France, 9% of the adult population aged 18 to 65 having been schooled in France are functionally illiterate, which represents over 3.1 million people.
Contrary to many preconceived ideas, half of these people are over 45. Almost 60% have jobs. 50% live in rural or sparsely populated areas. Finally, almost 80% spoke French only at home aged 5.
Many actions are implemented, in companies in particular, to help employees escape from functional illiteracy, and be more at ease at work and in life in general.
Functional illiteracy is also a situation that we must attempt to prevent as early as possible, since it is often rooted in childhood and difficulties increase with age. This is why functional illiteracy prevention work with families is fundamental to better support children in the early stages of learning.
To prevent and to significantly reduce functional illiteracy, we need to act on all fronts, at all ages, by mobilizing the energies and resources of the public authorities, community organizations and businesses and, of course, as the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation desires, provide support to all those who act effectively and highlight the solutions that work.
But first, we need to raise awareness, with no taboos, of the breadth of the phenomenon in our country, and better understand those facing functional illiteracy so that, without being stigmatized, they can relearn what they have forgotten.
Marie-Thérèse Geffroy
