Adult Literacy Program

How Does Teaching Adult Literacy Help Poverty Rates?

Adult literacy program
Adult education and literacy
How to teach adult literacy
Teaching adult literacy

There are still millions of adults worldwide who have never learned to read and write. Most of these adults live in poverty. Teaching adult literacy is essential to helping people escape poverty.

World Atlas reports,

“One of the major problems experienced in South Asia is illiteracy,” . “The global literacy rate is estimated at 86 percent for adults and 91 percent among youths. Despite the impressive figure, more than 850 million people above the age of 15 are illiterate, of whom two-thirds are women.”1

They went on to note,

“Education is not only crucial for literacy, but it also plays an essential role in economic growth and development.”2

Concern Worldwide US has defined six ways in which literacy fights poverty:3

  1. Literacy improves health: Studies show correlations between literacy and lowered infant mortality rates as well as a person’s ability to follow a doctor’s instructions for care, willingness to seek medical care and much more. A healthier society is a more stable one.
  2. Literacy promotes life-long learning and builds skills: Having a foundational education of literacy and numeracy is the precursor to being able to continue learning and acquiring new skills, which builds families and communities.
  3. Literacy improves the economy and creates jobs: Each person who is unable to work due to illiteracy and its complications equals a person who isn’t contributing to their country’s economy in any way. It actually costs a country money to have people unemployed.
  1. Literacy promotes gender equality: A 10 percent increase of female students in a country equals a 3 percent increase in the country’s gross domestic product and becomes a catalyst for more women being educated and valued across the board.
  2. Literacy promotes democracy and peace: Being illiterate creates an atmosphere of exclusion for a person or family, as well as marginalization and prejudice. Once a person becomes literate, they can better follow and understand what is happening to them and their country, giving them access to opportunities and a way to defend themselves.
  3. Literacy builds self-esteem and overall quality of life: How people view themselves is part of the cycle of poverty that literacy can help break. The confidence and knowledge gained from a person reading is their first step to believing they can have a brighter future.

This is why GFA World is committed to adult literacy, especially for the women who are marginalized in South Asia. GFA World offers literacy classes for adult women in Asia, many of whom have never had the opportunity to learn. GFA World’s literacy program also offer the life-giving words of Scripture. Give to GFA World’s literacy program today for these marginalized women and their communities.

Learn more about adult literacy program

1 “Low Literacy Rates in South Asia: Causes and Consequences.” World Atlas. December 10, 2019. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/low-literacy-rates-in-south-asia-causes-and-consequences.html.
2 “Low Literacy Rates in South Asia: Causes and Consequences.” World Atlas. December 10, 2019. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/low-literacy-rates-in-south-asia-causes-and-consequences.html.
3 Giovetti, Olivia. “Benefits of Literacy Against Poverty.” Concern Worldwide USA. August 27, 2020. https://www.concernusa.org/story/benefits-of-literacy-against-poverty/.