Regarding illiteracy and illiteracy, sociologist Jean Viard emphasizes that “learning requires both the profession of teachers and the thirst for learning of the child.”

Those who cannot read or write, or who are not comfortable with writing and reading, suffer from some form of disability throughout their lives.

Illiteracy, the fact of not knowing how to read or write, is a problem that affects 14% of the world’s population. Illiteracy – not mastering these two concepts despite having attended school – affects 4% of French people aged 18 to 64. Enough to fuel the reflection of sociologist Jean Viard.

franceinfo: Is illiteracy a primary obstacle to the proper functioning of a society, or even of democracy?

Jean Viard: Absolutely. The 20th century was the century of reading, we learned to read massively, on the planet even if, in fact, at the end of the century, not everyone knew how to read or write. There are still approximately 773 million completely illiterate people in the world. This figure is declining, but remains significant. So the battle continues as we have entered the digital century, which is a century of reading and writing since, by definition, you cannot go on the Internet if you cannot read or write. In France, 4% of people are left by the wayside, a little more girls than boys, 10% who do not feel comfortable with letters, and this is a problem. There is still work to be done.

Not knowing how to read, not knowing how to write, is that a handicap?

Of course! To find a job, to vote, to participate in democracy, in the life of society quite simply. Take a cleaning lady, for example, a modest profession. She must be able to understand what is written on sometimes toxic products. A farmer cannot treat his vines if he does not know the doses to use according to the advice he is given. This is true for everyone.

Is the school to blame?

Children who actually have difficulty in reading and writing when they start sixth grade will suffer the consequences for the rest of their lives: they will drop out of school, they will get bored, they will get lost at the start of high school and they will have difficulty in the world of work. We will find them 20 years later between minimum wage and unemployment. Their lives will have been mapped out from the start. The question that must therefore be asked is: how do we educate young people? On Tik Tok or by reading Seneca? This is a crucial issue, because the digital world is becoming the basis of learning.

Haven’t there been some failures over the years? Haven’t some students been let slip away?

Take for example the deprived neighborhoods. Young girls who arrive from abroad, basically after two generations they have the same level as the others. Why? Because they have a thirst for learning, because they know that it is through school that they will find a job and therefore have an independent life. We see an extraordinary will there. However, in the same schools and the same classes, boys have much less results. This means that learning requires both the profession of teachers, of the school, and the desire to learn. The child must have the feeling that if he learns, he will succeed in life and will get by.