It is often said that "illiteracy is a disease". How did we come about this? Illiteracy being a disease is to say that it's causing more harm than good. So, if illiteracy is a disease, then literacy is the cure. This means that illiteracy needs to be treated since one can't be comfortable with a disease. What is illiteracy?  Illiteracy is a state whereby one is unable to "read or write". Illiteracy is alarming in this digital age we're in and anyone who can't read or write is really backward. Yet, we have people like that in our generation and this is why we must treat Illiteracy by every means possible.

Illiteracy can also mean ignorance or lack of knowledge in a particular subject. For example, a person can know how to read and write but have no idea how to operate a computer, that's computer illiteracy. Many people are in this category. The truth is that one can't know everything but it is essential to know one or two things about everything. One can always learn a new thing often.

Being literate is as important as knowing that in choosing a path or career in life, your reading, writing and communication skills are very important. These are your valuable assets. That is why literacy is important. The world we live in now revolves around these things, one can't afford to be behind. This generation is so key on literacy because it's very important for communication, employment, connections, and life as a whole.

It is important to also note that there are some factors that cause illiteracy. The most common ones are poverty, lack of awareness,  unemployment for the educated, lack of educational facilities, parents' illiteracy, learning disabilities such as dyslexia and many others.

Does illiteracy affect one's life?

Yes, it does. For someone who doesn't know how to read and write, they're limitations to the kind of jobs you can do and the kind of job opportunities that comes your way. There's also the tendency to be earning a lower income. People with a low level of literacy tend to struggle with daily activities such as reading instructions on products, understanding the government policies, filling out forms and applications, reading medicine labels etc. In these times, crimes are mostly known to be committed by the illiterates in a country and this can be linked to insufficient income or lack of knowledge about the government rules and regulations. Illiteracy has also made most people live in isolation. They avoid meeting new people or even going to new areas because of the fear of their illiteracy being discovered. Being illiterate makes one vulnerable to deception and also suffers from low self-esteem.

How can illiteracy be cured? 

The cure to illiteracy starts with willingness and readiness to learn. Once a man is willing and ready to learn how to read and write, then illiteracy is about to be dealt with. Also, illiteracy can be cured by having a good educational system with the necessary facilities. And also by creating awareness of the importance of being literate, as well as creating digital platforms for reading and learning.

The higher the number of literates, the better the community. Everyone should aspire to want to read and write. Literacy is a necessity, it's needed to survive in today's world. Literacy can broaden one's horizons.

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