When one can read and write

When one can read; he can understand. When one can understand; he can write. When one can read and write; he can compute simple arithmetic. When one can compute; he can be a functional literate. When one is literate; he becomes a better citizen. So, read with understanding and write with purpose.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has drafted a definition of literacy as the ‘ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.’ While, the Department of Education, City of Legazpi, and West Rotary Club supported the Legazpi City Literacy Fun Run. This is an international literacy celebration with a theme, Literacy: school and communities working together. The fun run started at St. Agnes Academy and ended at Albay Astrodome held on September 29, 2009 at exactly seven thirty in the morning.

The Ateneo de Naga University (AdNU) Social Science Research Center unfolds that Simple literacy rate (SLR) in the Bicol region increased from 87.3 percent in 1989 to 94.9 percent in 1994. In 1994, among the six provinces in the Bicol region, Functional literacy rate (FLR) was highest in Camarines Norte with 90.0 percent, followed by Catanduanes with 87.4 percent. Masbate, on the other hand, registered the lowest functional literacy rate, following Sorsogon at 75.2 percent and 79.4 percent, respectively. The index mundi, an online publication, disclosed that Bicol region manifests a mixture of dynamic culture, resilient and religious people, and literate workforce. It has a literacy rate of 96% with schools and universities at par with those in Manila. Aside from being highly literate, the Bicolano workforce is skilled and hardworking; however, workers in Bicol are paid lower than P182 per day. Hence, most families cannot provide for their basic needs resulting in a great number of malnourished or undernourished children.

Summer Institute of Linguistics in association with the Philippines Department of Education revealed that although the Philippines has a basic literacy rate of more than 88.5%, pockets of illiteracy remain. Dr. Norma L. Salcedo, head of the Literacy Coordinating Council, Abiva Publishing House, Inc., defines literacy as the ability of a person to read and write with understanding a simple message in any language or dialect. However, Summer of Institute of Linguistics added that according to the Department of Education, there are more than 1 million pre-literates in the country and more than 6 million people are deemed to be functionally illiterate. SIL found out that many of these are belonged to the indigenous cultural communities because the languages spoken by a number of these communities have had no written tradition. So, a concerted effort among educators, learners, communities, and the government is still needed to raise the level of literacy in the country. It is said that low levels of literacy and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world because we believe that high level of literacy is a crucial measure of a region's human capital.

When one becomes a better citizen; he must know how to appreciate his people and environment. When one can appreciate his society; he can be an epitome of character. When one has dignified character; he can make a productive society because reading without understanding is meaningless and writing without purpose is useless.