Great Britain: 26m can't read & write

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | December 15, 2004 | DAVID WOODING

[Stoat]

26m can't read & write

By DAVID WOODING
Whitehall Editor

A STAGGERING 26million adults in England cannot read, write or add up properly, a report reveals today.

And experts warn things will get WORSE unless urgent action is taken.

A study by government spending watchdog the National Audit Office reveals that a high percentage of all working-age people are unable to do simple sums set for an 11-year-old.

A fifth have a worse command of English than a typical PRIMARY school leaver. Most strugglers are out of work, on benefits or in low-skilled jobs, according to the NAO.

The watchdog says: “Twenty-six million people of working age have levels of literacy and numeracy below those expected of school leavers. They are spread across all ages with no significant variation between men and women or different English-speaking ethnic groups.

“They may be unable to read and understand signs, notices and labels or check whether they have received the correct change when shopping.”

Four out of five adults are below the maths standard expected of a 16-year-old, while three out of five fail to meet the reading and writing levels set for a typical school leaver.

The report calls for urgent action to persuade hundreds of thousands of workers to brush up on basic skills.

It demands more teachers in adult education centres and incentives to attract new students.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke last night pledged action to raise English and maths standards in adults.

Thousands of kids are behind in reading because of a teaching standards crisis, a second report warns.

A third of 11-year-olds in England and Wales are below expected levels in English at 2,235 “weak” primary schools.

Ofsted’s chief schools inspector David Bell said: “The lacklustre approach in some schools is very worrying. The under-performance in reading standards in some schools must no longer be acceptable.”

Tories said the reports showed Labour’s education reforms were failing, and teachers’ unions said they proved more full-time teachers were needed.

It was also revealed last night that England’s 14-year-olds lag behind the rest of the world in maths.

We finished 18th in the Trends in International Maths and Science Survey, behind the USA, Australia, Malaysia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Nine countries scored “significantly higher” than England, including Hungary, Estonia and the best, Singapore.

[MikefromOhio]

now thats interesting...

I guess we could always aim lower /sarcasm

the funny part is, you can't fake math. Unlike reading and writing when you can try different (and stupid) ways of making up words and putting sentences together, Math is unequivocal (except during elections and if you are a DUmmie).

[asgardshill]

Not surprising. Not only does a significant segment of the population seem to be unable to find a dentist, precious few can apparently even spell one.

[bahblahbah]

That has got to be BS. Thats almost half the country.

[james beam]

its bull, because the report cites more than half the country.

[commonguymd]

Send our brilliant folks from the national teacher's union - maybe they don't have enough diversity and sensitivity training.

[brushcop]

Quick, throw more money at the problem!!

[commonguymd]

you made my day. That quip was just hilarious. Got me laughing.

[Glenn]

Fortunately for FR, we seem to get only the most literate GB posters. For that, I am truly grateful.

[Conservatrix]

You can control them better when they are dumb and stupid.

[Conservatrix]

"Math is unequivocal (except during elections and if you are a DUmmie)."

But that depends on what the meaning of "is" is.

[Stoat]

Fortunately for FR, we seem to get only the most literate GB posters.

Agreed....all British Freepers that I've spoken with have not only been articulate but courteous as well.

[MikefromOhio]

LOL

I just knew someone was going to say that....

[Martin Wellbourne]

And the reoprt is in The Sun - hardly quality reading material. I suspect most of The Sun's readship is in that 26 million.

I once came first in a test to write a report - I got the lowest score - but the lower the score the easier it was to understand. My tutor said that I came first because "your paper could be read and understood by most of the population - the sort of thing The Sun would publish and its readers understand".

[expat-in-the-uk]

Believing The Sun is about like believing The National Enquirer.

[SauronOfMordor]

Keep in mind the number of immigrants from Jamaica plus Muslim immigrants.

[daddyOwe]

Yes, but we can read and write but we are still considered dumb for voting for Bush.

[nuke rocketeer]

More Whole Language training is obviously needed for their teachers.

[Aquinasfan]

26m can't read? John Dewey, the father of modern schooling, would be proud.

It is almost an unquestioned assumption, of educational theory and practice both, that the first three years of a child's school-life shall be mainly taken up with learning to read and write his own language. ... It does not follow, however, that because this course was once wise it is so any longer. ... The plea for the predominance of learning to read in early school life because of the great importance attaching to literature seems to me a perversion.

--John Dewey (1898)

[JudyinCanada]

Bingo.

It's Whole Language and Child Centered Learning.

I have decided this method of NOT teaching children to read and write was brought in for the purpose of dumbing down society and it has worked.

I tutor kids from Grades 1 through 6 to teach them how to read, spell and write properly. They are all the same. Products of this whacky whole language method.

What a difference in makes in a child's life when they see that they are actually not stupid (which is what they think of themselves), but were just not taught properly. It is amazing.