LOW the ruling Governments, Non- government organizations

LOW the ruling Governments, Non- government organizations

LOW LITERACY This essay will discuss the causes and the effects of low literacy in the societies. First, it discusses the economical causes of low literacy which are large population, poverty rates and instable economy. Secondly, it will discuss the political causes which are misuse of funds and corruption and change policy and followed by the social causes. After, it will briefly discuss the effects of the causes and finally it will conclude that low literacy is caused by the economy, politic and social matters which government and NGOs should looked at and stop low literacy in the pacific society.Today, there are many fundamental issues currently faced with by the communities and societies.

Low literacy is one of them. This issue is becoming a challenge in the pacific, that authorities such as the ruling Governments, Non- government organizations and etc should look into and find solution to resolve it. However, it is important to take in consideration the causes and the effects that low literacy presents to the pacific societies.

The main causes of low literacy in the pacific are in terms of economy, politics and social causes. Economically, largely mal population or over populated countries would not be able to provide basic education for all of its citizens due to the fact that resources available does not match the country’s needs. This became a problem and low income earners would not be able to afford basic education thus resulted in low literacy rate especially in the rural communities.Example in the Solomon islands the birth rate is the highest in the south pacific and during the ethnic tension from 1998 all major companies have closed down and all diplomats left the country, as the result the Solomon islands dollar became devalued thus causes some functions within the Government’s machinery un operational and causes parents in rural populace and low income earners find it hard to afford basic needs and school fees for their children.

To add more, as the result of instability in the Economy, some countries have o borrow money from other agencies, such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Kuwait fund etc. Sometimes the borrowing was excessive and causes the country to over dept and cannot afford to pay its dept within the timeframe given and so was penalized. This causes the Government losing sight to some of its functional and key areas including the education, and in order to keep schools operating, school fees are raised to the level where rural and low income earners cannot afford.This unfortunate scenario causes some parents stop sending children to schools thus contributed to low literacy in the some communities. More over, Poverty is affecting many communities to send children and adult to schools. This has caused low literacy to communities. Many people strive to find money to pay for school fees.

Some do street markets such as selling betel nuts although it is against the City Council regulations, they continue as the only means of survival despite of being fined or warned to do so by the City council Law enforcement Authority.Other reasons are that low literacy affects those who have broken families and are affected or traumatized, they are not well looked after and fed they went to school without a breakfast and lacks concentration they are unhealthy both physically and mentally. In addition, another contributing factor that causes low literacy in the pacific was due to Political impacts or interference. Example change in educational policies causes impact in the educational system of the country.

The changes does not fully explained to the communities well in advance before the change came about or it was not accepted by the communities, more so people were confused of the policy change as the result literacy became an impact in the communities. In Solomon Island for example, the free education policy has affect some people. This is because they send their children to some private schools that the policy do not apply, without realizing and hoping that the government will pay for them. As the result their children have been kicked out due to school fees.

This happens because the change in the policy only apply to schools that owned by the government. Another Likelihood of Political impact could be competing demand for development within the Governmental supports system. If all governmental functional areas demands development whilst revenue collection is low then surely, some important areas such as education could be left out and as the result causes low literacy rate in the country.

Corruption is another contributing factor, example in the Solomon Islands, the Republic of China Taiwan pumped in around 1 million SBD for Constituency development Fund.The aim is to support communities to build better standard of living in the rural areas including support community schools. These monies were not expended for the purpose it was supposed to instead some members of Parliament used it for their personal use. This issue became a public discussion both within the neighborhood and the print media. As the result of corruption and misuse of development funds many schools especially in rural areas have not developed to standards that suits students, materials and etc. these cause students not willing to addends classes.Like wise, Social problems in the communities are also some of the core issues affecting literacy in the communities.

Some cultures especially in the Melanesian countries women are insuperior to men. They are placed as house wives only and their responsibility is to look after the house and children. Women are not allowed to do men’s job such as mechanics, Carpentry etc. their chore confines only in the kitchen. For example, in some rural communities that are situated far from the towns don’t send their children to due to their cultures and this also happens in Solomon Island where women don’t addend school.As the result most women are not allowed to go to school. Besides, some cultures do not take education seriously.

They termed education is for working class only, whilst others especially in the primitive locations thought education is a threat to their culture. They thought that education will destroy their cultures and customs. So, they don’t send their children to school but helps in gardening and other activities in their village. This is why low literacy is common in Melanesian countries especially women.Further more, most pacific countries have different types of dialects in their communities which affect many people both young and old.

We pacific islanders born with our own mother tongues and many grow up using their own languages rather than English. This affects them when trying to learn English in schools and most teachers in rural areas use their own language to teach children. This is why most people used their mother tongues when they speak rather than using English especially in the rural area.

For example, some teachers in rural community schools in Solomon Island communicate with their students in their language and pidgin. This is the reasons why low literacy is experienced in societies. As the result of these causes of low literacy, it has affected many people in the pacific. Many people with low literacy have left unemployed.

This is because they can’t read or even write. This have affecting them a lot and they just stay doing nothing relying on others to feed them or even collect bottles and selling scrape irons and etc to survive.For example, in Honiara, there are many unemployed people roaming the town collecting bottles to survive. This is because they can’t get a job due to low literacy.

To add more, criminal activities is another likely effect of low literacy. Many people get into criminal activities best they can’t get a job due to low literacy. So the only thing they did is to go and steal other people’s properties, doing drugs and alcohol. Take Honiara for example, there are many young youths that going stealing in the streets.

Some of These young stars have no knowledge of write or reading and some don’t even addend school. This has affected them a lot because due to low literacy. Also, in the societies and communities many people with low literacy don’t participate a lot in community activities.

This is because they are ashamed of others who have good literacy than them which creates a barrier between them. They just follow the others to lead them whether good or bad. For example, some women with low literacy in the some rural areas in Solomon Island are hardly seen taking part in organizing community events.They just wait for others. This is because they ashamed of others because they are not educated well enough for such role in the communities. To conclude, it is clear that the causes of low literacy in our societies today is through the economy, politics and as well as social causes that have affecting many people today especially in the rural communities. However, it seems that we do not take the effects of low literacy seriously and it is recommended that governments and other NGOs should start these issues seriously because read and write is the key to success nowadays.