Study Finds 5% Of Maltese People Are Illiterate
There are approximately 24,000 illiterate people in Malta, about 5% of the public, says Fr. Edgar Busuttil, the director of the Paulo Freire Institute, an organisation based in Zejtun dedicated to promoting literacy in Malta.
In comments made to Illum, he said that “it is worrying that in Malta we still have all these people who are illiterate.”
He pointed to a few reasons that might be contributing to such a large percentage of illiteracy in the Maltese population. Social problems, the difficulties that come along with certain conditions like Dyslexia, as well as people not receiving a formal education can all contribute to increased illiteracy.
“There are about 24,000 illiterate people in Malta, and it is worrying”
Fr. Edgar Busuttil
Fr. Edgar explained how illiteracy can lead to poverty, exacerbating the person’s problems. Illiterate people can also find it hard finding gainful employment in their lives.
The Paulo Freire Institute works with illiterate people to offer informative sessions or other services to help them cope in society, but with only eight volunteers and a long waiting list of people who seek their help, they cannot cope with the demand.
He called on any teacher that would like to volunteer to contact him or the Institute.
However, one way that the Institute is working to promote literacy is through their new program Iċ-Ċavetta. Founded in collaboration with Vodafone, it is a an app that anyone can download that is aimed at both young and older people and has already been achieving results.
It’s primary goal is to teach people the basics when it comes to reading Maltese. It consists of 32 activities, and is split into different difficulty levels.
They’ve already received feedback from some older users who were finally able to read messages that their grandchildren had sent them, and Fr. Edgar hopes this is just the beginning.
With global rates of illiteracy fluctuating greatly between country, Malta has a higher amount of illiteracy when compared to other European countries. Over the next few years, as more and more of our lives go online, Malta must combat illiteracy or face having a section of the population that will be left out of the community.
What do you think can be done to combat illiteracy in Malta? Let us know in the comments below.
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