David LinckLiteracy has been described as the ability to read and write. A literate person is able to understand all forms of communication. The major impact that literacy has is upon the mind of an individual. The critical thinking and decisive abilities are greatly enhanced. Literacy involves a range of complex language underpinnings such as phonology (involving abilities to hear and interpret sounds), word meanings, grammar and fluency in at least one communication language. These skills determine the levels of literacy attained by an individual.
Literacy and language are largely related. A person achieves literacy only after he becomes confident and acquires the ability to read and write in any particular language. Language is a common medium of communication. There are various languages in this world like Mandarin, English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Russian, Persian, Tamil, Indonesian, Italian etc.
A term which helps to achieve literacy is “education”. It is the study of a particular language or a set of languages which helps a person to understand the basic skills of a language. Education is started at an early stage and is usually carried in a school or college. A child starts his primary education between the age of 3 and 5. Thereafter he/she attends primary school where the education is continued one step further. Primary education is followed by secondary and senior secondary and then the person enters college or university. College education is based on a particular stream which helps a person gain specialization. One can continue his studies lifelong as it has no ending. Subjects are vast and courses are vast.
Education and literacy are extremely important in our life. A person becomes a responsible human being only after he has completed his education and achieved literacy. The progress of a country directly depends upon the literacy rate of the country. The more advanced a country, the high are its literacy rates and this are the reason that many politicians, educationists, sportsperson all press for the need for education in our life.
An educated person is expected to perform his duties well. His style of thinking improves and he becomes more broad minded. We should help our children complete their education and should make them responsible citizens of our country. The most important benefit is that an individual becomes self dependent after achieving literacy. I would request all the people of this world to help children (especially the underprivileged ones) to study and make them good citizens.
