Literacy—A Necessity
Literacy is the first step towards the attainment of knowledge. Imagine a world of illiterates — a world which would be a vast endless desert of ignorance. Literacy in such a world would indeed be like an oasis, that fertile spot where fresh water flows and majestic palm trees grow.
Literacy has been defined by the Concise Oxford Dictionary as the ability to read and write. This ability is essential if any kind of education is to be obtained. It is not enough that the government plans literacy programme and calls upon educated people to help their less fortunate brothers. Every single one of us has to take it upon ourselves to follow this programme. Every time we take up a book to read, we should remember how privileged we are and we should silently pledge to impart this knowledge, which we take so much for granted, to someone who is equally entitled to it. Whatever we have learnt is useless if we do not share it with others.
There is nothing more beautiful than the coordination between eye and brain as the finger moves and the black symbols form into letters and the letters into words. The enjoyment of this beauty is the birthright of every individual and it is a poor country indeed which cannot boast of 100 per cent literacy. No amount of technological advancement is of any value if education is to remain the domain of only a handful of people.
With literacy comes awareness and with awareness comes progress, culture and civilization. The written word is the most powerful of weapons and if we teach our people to read and write, we will bring about a revolution greater than history has ever witnessed!
