Across Quebec, new municipal teams are being set up to ensure the daily well-being of their fellow citizens, and to contribute to the development of their community.
The projects to be covered are numerous and diversified: environment, town planning, local economy, housing, culture and leisure, security, integration of people with an immigrant background, citizen participation … Among all the elements to consider, we draw attention on a key element underlying most of these areas and recognized as an essential lever for the development of a community: the literacy skills of its members.
Literacy refers to a person’s ability to appropriate the written world, in its double dimension of reading and writing, to meet personal and professional needs. Quebec’s underperformance in this area is often highlighted in broad strokes. According to the international survey on adult literacy skills led by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), half of 16 to 65 year olds do not reach level 3, i.e. the minimum threshold required. to properly understand the information presented in a long press article.
The impacts of this state of affairs on our society are regularly highlighted, with priority being given to the negative effects on the economy. However, this is far from being the only area potentially affected. The ability to read and write effectively using the communication media of the digital age is indeed essential, also, to have access to various services, to learn about one’s rights, to watch over one’s health or to get involved in social debates and forge a critical mind.
The recent study by economist Pierre Langlois revealed large disparities in the level of literacy according to the regions of Quebec and, within the same large city or an MRC, according to certain zones or certain neighborhoods. A third of the RCMs or large cities in Quebec are classified in the red zone because 60% or more of the adult population ranks below level 3 of literacy, considered by the OECD as the minimum threshold to be functional in society . […]
A role to play
In our opinion, municipalities have an essential role to play at their level in ensuring and strengthening the vitality of literacy among the various population groups that make up their city. Among the projects to be prioritized by the new elected teams, a reflection deserves to be initiated around three distinct components.
The first part concerns access to books of all types and the promotion of reading and writing practices. We spontaneously think of the essential role of the municipal library, now redesigned as an open and dynamic learning center offering services both face-to-face and remotely. Many projects can also be set up to provide access to books and written documentation, as well as to offer activities around reading and writing to a variety of audiences, in diverse places: the public market , parks, community centers, youth centers, residences for the elderly, halls of buildings in certain more disadvantaged neighborhoods or, why not, the waiting room of the town hall. […]
The second aspect to be considered relates to the support that elected officials can provide to organizations, associations or community groups dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of literacy skills and whose activities target the general public or certain groups in particular (people with low levels of literacy). literate, people in the process of francization…). How can these groups get better support to fulfill their mission and reach even more people?
Finally, the last part relates to the way in which the modes of communication and interaction with the population are thought out. Is there enough concern to adapt messages to the varied literacy skills of citizens of all ages, backgrounds and origins? Is there any provision for training in this regard for those elected as well as for administrative officers in contact with the population? Do we allow each citizen to make his or her needs and point of view known in ways adapted to their capacities?
While each of these components can give rise to targeted actions, it would also be desirable to include these in a concerted overall plan drawn up in a participatory manner. The City of Longueuil innovated a few years ago by implementing the first Literacy Action Plan. Let us encourage all municipal teams to follow this path, which will allow them to contribute significantly to the full development of citizens, and to give vigor to municipal democracy.