High price to pay for literacy

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Once upon a time,  students were beaten when they misbehaved or did not fare well in class. For other shortcomings and offences, they were flogged with a leather whip. Schooling and discipline went hand in hand in ancient times when reading and writing were sometimes more important than other subjects.

    Around 3800 BC to 500 BC, India, Rome, Mesopotamia and Greece were the seats of education. Students in those days did not study geography, health science, morals or history. Instead they learned subjects like philosophy, mathematics and science.

   In ancient India, schools were residential, usually the teachers’ houses. Classes were also conducted at temples and mosques. The schools taught subjects like arithmetic, theology, law, astronomy, medical science, ethics and religion.

    Ayurveda was the world’s earliest school of medicine. It was consolidated 2,500 years ago by the Father of Medicine, Charaka, who was the first to presents concepts of digestion, metabolism and immunity. He wrote papers on physiology, etiology and embryology.

   The art of navigation was first developed in India 6,000 years ago. The words navigation and navy are derived from Sankrit words, navgatih and nou.

   India’s oldest universities were Taxila and Takshashila in the 6th century BC. More well-known was the University of Nalanda built in the 5th century; it attracted more than 10,500 students from all over the world and offered more than 60 academic courses.  

   In Mesopotamia, the ancient Sumerians believed in education. Boys studied their written language cuneiform at schools which were usually attached to temples. Students had to excel in their subjects, or they were punished, sometimes whipped. Despite the harsh training, students were determined to learn to read and write so that they could find good jobs.

   Sumerian children studied arithmetic based on units of 10. They wrote poetically to please their gods. Writing was done using clay tablets. Students learned complex grammar by rote and they spent a great deal of time practicing at writing.

   Around 3800 BC, a number of cities were noted for good education; they included Babylon, Ur and Uruk where most students studied to become high-earning scribes. The subjects ranged from astronomy and biology to law and economics. However, girls were not allowed to attend school.

   Schools at shops

   In ancient Egypt, boys wrote on clay pieces and broken bits of pottery before they were permitted to use papyrus. They usually copied passages of fairy tales and old stories. The most important subject was arithmetic as many students aspired to be scribes who were exempted from hard work. The scribes were tasked to keep accounts and order supplies for temples and the Egyptian army.  

   Of all the branches of science pursued in those times, none was more popular than medicine. The first Egyptian school of medicine called House of Life dated back to the first dynasty from 3100 BC. Physicians were held in high esteem and they dispensed drugs in pills, drops and ointment form.

   Schools in ancient Rome were extensions of shops separated by only curtains. Richer families engaged private to teach their children at home while the poor did not get a formal education. Children aged 11 or 12 learned to read and write, did basic mathematics and worked on abacuses. For writing, they used a stylus and a wax tablet before using paper which was then expensive.

   Older students learned public speaking and writings of great intellects. Girls from wealthy families studied at home; sewing, music and housework were part of their education. They normally married at the age of 12; boys settled down as early as 14.

   At one time, literacy was the ability to sign one’s name or read and write Latin. In the 12th and 13th century, the ability of read particular passages from the Bible entitled defendants to be tried before an ecclesiastical court, where sentences were more lenient instead of a secular one.

   On the basis of this performance, literacy reached nearly 100% in Sweden, but as late as the 19th century many Swedes could not write. In Britain, Wales had the highest literacy rate while Americans in New England attained a 90% rate. Ironically, 33% of Englishmen could not sign their marriage certificates in the 1840s.

   Low literacy rates

   In the UK and the US, the ability to read and write was a qualification for the right to vote. During the Civil War, slaves are prohibited from learning to read and write.

   In the contemporary world, Georgia is reported to have achieved the 100% literacy rate. Cuba, Estonia and Latvia have 99.8%, followed by Barbados, Slovenia and Belarus with 99.7%.

   Asian countries with the 99% literacy rate are Japan and South Korea. The levels in Brunei, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand are slightly over 94%. Malaysia’s rate is 92%.

   However, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Gambia and Central African Republic are under the 50% level. The literacy rates fall under 40% in Ethiopia, Senegal, Guinea and Mozambique.

   Nowadays, illiteracy is no longer confined to the inability to read, write and speak fluently. There are cultural illiteracy and scientific illiteracy. With the advances of technologies and knowledge gathering, a person’s learning is measured by his skills in computers and digital knowhow, multimedia, modern technology and arts. Other types such as critical literacy, functional literacy, rhetorical literal and information literacy are also considered.

   Literacy does not necessarily equate with a country’s advancement. Many communist countries have failed to pull themselves out of poverty.  

    According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 16% of the world’s population – slightly over one billion – are illiterate, and two-thirds of them are women. Nearly 60% of the illiterates are found in Africa. Even the US has 2.8 million illiterates.