Do you know what functional illiteracy is?
Individuals who, although they know how to recognize letters and numbers, are called functional illiterates. they are unable to understand simple texts as well as perform more elaborate mathematical operations. In Brazil, according to a survey carried out by Instituto Pró-Livro, 50% of respondents declared they did not read books because they were unable to understand their content, although they were technically literate. Another survey, carried out by Instituto Paulo Montenegro and by Ação Educativa, revealed data from the eighth edition of the Functional Illiteracy Indicator, Inaf, whose results are alarming.
According to Inaf, literacy can be classified into four levels: illiterate, literate at a rudimentary level (both considered functional illiterates), literate at the basic level and literate at the full level (the latter two considered literate individuals functionally). According to the research, which applies a test evaluating reading, writing and mathematics skills, full mastery of reading has been falling among all respondents, having completed elementary school or high school. Higher. The data show that the problem of functional illiteracy must be taken seriously, as the difficulty in understanding the
textual genres, even the simplest and most accessed in daily life, impairs the individual's intellectual, personal and professional development.
Literacy is one of the solutions for the eradication of functional illiteracy, as it goes beyond the technical view of literacy
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Although the number of illiterates has decreased in Brazil in the last fifteen years, functional illiteracy is still a specter that affects even students who attend higher education, dispelling the myth that it would be intrinsically related to low schooling. The researches carried out on the functional illiteracy rate in the country are extremely important, as they promote debate between various social groups responsible for developing a new educational parameter based on the discussion of the causes and effects of Inaf.
Developing methods that prioritize literacy is fundamental for overcoming functional illiteracy, and for that the importance of joint work between parents and teachers is unquestionable. Those who believe that only the school is responsible for teaching literacy and literacy are mistaken, since literacy is a practice present in many everyday situations, involving not only the technical reading of texts, but also the development of criticality and the ability to elaborate their own opinions regarding the contents accessed. Learning must be universal, thus enabling all readers to reach the full level of functional literacy.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "Functional illiteracy"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/analfabetismo-funcional.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
