Lack of literacy as a cause of poverty

Many of the problems faced by society today are not new, like poverty, wars, broken homes, crime, unemployment or social exclusion, but their causes remain a constant source of debate. Talking about poverty, there is, on the one hand, a school of thought which suggests that people have what they deserve and what they have worked for. On the other hand, many people claims that a lack of literacy is one of the root causes of poverty. Illiterate people have to accept a life of disadvantage, unable to play a full part in society. Obviously, poor and hungry people need to be fed, but also need to be able to earn their own living, The question is, how should our society improve? As far as the social aspect is concerned, there can be little doubt that schools have a significant part to play in the way our youth is educated. Perhaps a well and better developed educational system, with more investment of the government and more implication of the teachers would brighten up the situation.

However, from an economical standpoint, the real problem is the actual global crisis, with the drastic reduction of the general budget. Because of that, in a crisis, teaching and literacy takes second place, as well as feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and healing the sick. Instead of this, our government is evicting the poor ones and putting them in a misery situation. A situation which is at an impasse. Furthermore, eradicating illiteracy could make the difference between temporary alleviation and a long-term solution. An effective reform of the law is needed: a reform which should made the bureaucracy easier and faster, a reform which ensured job creation, a reform which encompassed a big change in educational terms and a reduction of the tax over culture.

If the above measures were implemented, we would literally knock out illiteracy, which would be for sure the first step for achieving progress. To sum up, a concerted effort on the part of government and individuals would improve the situation for all of us and help provide a society the eradication of poverty.

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