World Literacy Day: Illiteracy: shame and many hurdles

From a purely statistical perspective, every person in Germany should know someone who cannot read and write properly: around 6.2 million adults in the Federal Republic are considered to be “low literate”. This means that reading and writing causes them severe problems. 300,000 of them are already struggling with letters, the rest can handle individual words or sentences, but are unable or only barely able to understand more complex texts such as a contract or a letter from the authorities. In addition, there are another four million people who can only read and write short texts and are characterized by incorrect spelling, even with simple vocabulary. This means that a total of 20.5 percent of the population in Germany have significant reading and writing problems.

One of them is Jens Böhme. The 67-year-old has a completely different name in real life and is one of the numerous interviewees who were asked about their “low literacy” as part of a research project at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Even in his early school years, Böhme developed problems with reading and discs, which he avoided by skipping school. His parents, both of whom worked, knew nothing about it. He intercepted warnings and forged signatures. He cheated his way through exams, copied from his neighbors or tried to do it orally, as he reported in the interview.

“Cheated through life”

You can tell Böhme doesn’t find it easy to talk about this topic. At the end of his school years, Böhme can read aloud without stuttering and has difficulty forming individual words. However, that is not enough to graduate from school. Nevertheless, he was able to begin training as a craftsman, in which he mainly got through verbally and focused on his practical activities. Until his retirement he worked in various professions, mostly as a plumber. He “cheated his way through life, all these years,” says Böhme.

For a long time he kept quiet about the fact that he could barely read and write and developed various strategies of secrecy in order not to attract attention. As he had done at school, he tried to get by verbally in everyday life. When he had to fill out forms with doctors, Böhme replied that he had forgotten his glasses. Those affected usually know how to compensate for their written language deficits with other skills. Böhme also says elsewhere that he is not a writer and much prefers to speak. Even his superior didn’t know about Böhme’s problems until he retired: “My boss didn’t notice either. “I hid everything so well,” he remembers. For Böhme, the constant hiding and the search for excuses meant that his everyday work without written language meant constant stress and he was constantly confronted with the fear of losing face.

Jens Böhme is definitely a typical case. Of people with low literacy in Germany, 76 percent have a school leaving certificate and 62 percent are employed, but compared to the general population, they are more likely to leave school without a qualification and are more likely to be unemployed or in precarious employment. But the numbers also show that low literacy does not mean complete exclusion. Affected people also take part – at school, in professional life, in the family and in the neighborhood. This data is based on the “LEO Study 2018 – Living with Low Literacy” conducted across Germany to record the reading and writing skills of the German-speaking adult population.

Diverse causes and problems

But how can it be that so many people in the “Educational Republic of Germany” cannot read and write properly? The search for reasons is complex; there are no simple explanations. There is rarely a single cause for reading and writing problems. It is often an interplay of individual, family, school and social factors. This is also confirmed by the several dozen interviews that the Berlin research team conducted. Illnesses were often mentioned there, which interrupted the early learning process as students, but also the fact that reading and writing were not modeled.

Those affected usually know how to compensate for their written language deficits with other skills.

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Many affected children were not or only rarely read to, and their parents did not write letters themselves or rarely read newspapers. In addition, there was usually a lack of financial resources that would have made tutoring possible. In other families, reading and learning were simply not taken as seriously; parents had little time or other problems. In addition, the school sometimes fails to support and encourage all children according to their needs. The fact that all children in Germany have to go to school does not mean that they do so under the same conditions. It can happen that students don’t get what they need to learn to read and write. Sometimes this isn’t even noticeable because, like Jens Böhme, they keep it quiet. In the interviews, those surveyed repeatedly spoke of uneasy feelings or declining self-confidence as the distance from their classmates increased.

Research on low literacy also shows that affected people develop low confidence in their own abilities and a negative self-image. Many people therefore do not disclose their problems. 79-year-old Elfriede Lütz – also a pseudonym – also reports in the interview that for years even her own children “didn’t know this. I didn’t even say that because I was ashamed.” Constantly hiding the fact of not being able to read and write properly demands almost all of the attention in everyday life and thus reduces the energy that would otherwise be available for family life would. All of this causes overwhelm, leads to frustration and increases the risk of psychological problems such as depression. In addition, all of this inhibits people from starting to learn to read and write again.

The problem of accessibility

“Low literacy” is a problem affecting society as a whole, but one that rarely receives wide public attention. Given the high number of people affected, politicians are required to provide unbureaucratic and quick help. The federal government, together with the federal states, has therefore declared the “National Decade for Literacy and Basic Education” (AlphaDecade) for 2016 to 2026. Their primary goal is to significantly increase reading and writing skills as well as the basic education level of adults in Germany.

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Those affected should be encouraged to speak to friends, family or colleagues and to confide in themselves. A lot has changed during the AlphaDecade. While the states have implemented regular information, advice and learning offers for adults with low literacy levels as part of their responsibility for general education, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) primarily supported research and development projects. When asked by “nd”, a ministry spokeswoman rated the success of the decade as “good”. However, the large package of measures will expire in two years and there is currently no successor program for the AlphaDecade, the BMBF spokeswoman continued. However, new projects are being planned that will run until 2027. What happens next is unclear.

In recent years there have also been increasing attempts to practice “outreach educational work”. Potential learners should be approached about their living environment, about the world of work, about colleagues at work and motivated to take on learning reading and writing again, for example in basic education courses. In addition, organizations such as adult education centers and some companies offer job-specific courses, such as writing and reading for professional drivers or nursing staff.

Not alone with the difficulties

All of this costs time, money and energy, but such projects seem to be successful. Dr. Theresa Hamilton heads the Berlin Basic Education Center, which sees itself as the central contact on the subject of literacy and basic education in the capital. It is aimed at those affected, course leaders, multipliers, employees in institutions and companies as well as politics and society. In the “nd” conversation, Hamilton explains that there are many different motivations for adults to learn to read and write properly. They often gained the courage to try again when something changed in their lives: when they started a new job, got their driver’s license or were encouraged to do so by people in their private environment. Another important motivation here is the family. By the way, that was also the case with Jens Böhme. He is currently taking part in a basic education course, primarily so that he can “read something to his grandchildren,” as he reports in the interview.

And how can you specifically help affected people? It is important that they know that they are not alone with these difficulties and are not subjected to stereotyping, says Theresa Hamilton. “This is the only way we can combat the decades-long taboo.” One step in this direction is UNESCO’s World Literacy Day, which has been celebrated on September 8th since 1965. On this occasion, events are taking place all over Germany to draw attention to the topic, such as information stands or advice offers. But beyond that, the Berlin Basic Education Center offers training courses for various target groups in Berlin all year round. “We not only target our work at those affected, but also conduct awareness training, conduct public relations work and organize exchange and networking formats,” concludes Hamilton. There is still an absolute need for 6.2 million poorly literate people.

Christopher Wimmer is a sociologist and author. For two years he has been working as a research assistant in the research project “Reflection of learning reasons and reasons for learning by low literate people in the phase of transition to the job/labour market”. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

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