Adult education : an effective tool to combat illiteracy

Abstract

Considering that there are 5% unemployed and 12% of the population confirmed to be illiterate, this study seeks to see whether there is any correlation between these two social problems. An analysis of literature indicates that illiteracy is one of the factors of long-term unemployment and various policies have been adopted abroad to scale down the problem. The present and evolving economy requires various skills from the human resources available and therefore various bodies have been interviewed to discover what they expect as regarding the education and training in preparation for work thereby rendering more individuals employable and therefore helping to curb the rise of long-term unemployment. The literature reviewed helps to show how education could help to empower people and create a culture of learning that would increase the potentiality of the workforce. Particular attention as to how the problem has been dealt with in a number of countries, indicates the need of raising awareness of the problem, of making the persons concerned conscious of it and how to organize and co-ordinate programs to tackle the issue in the light of the economic development of the country. An analysis of illiteracy and unemployment in present day Malta shows that the problem is a very real one in certain areas. The way it is being addressed so far, however, has not been very effective in spite of the fact that state sponsored organizations are advertising their services. Having examined possible reasons for this failure, the discussion is concluded by providing a number of recommendations that could render a co-ordinated effort more effective and efficient.