"To become an award winning actor you have to read a script. To become a chef you have to read a receipe. To rent a flat you have to read the contract. To get a job you have to read the application. Whether it's books, websites, texts or magazines, everything starts with reading."
This radio advertisement was heard across the UK for the past few weeks, thus promoting the National Year of Reading. But what if you cannot read properly – like 26.7 million people in England? The advertisement gets to the point: people without basic reading skills cannot function effectively in our modern society.
Imagine: You get in your car to drive to work. For some reason your normal route is closed. You have to find another way but cannot read the road signs and get lost. You drive round and round until you spot a familiar building and are able to orientate yourself again. You arrive at work an hour late.
People who cannot read properly might not only fail to find their way to work or home, they might not be able to find good jobs either, they might earn less, they might suffer from health problems and they might face social stigma. The country loses out too: £10 billion a year.
The problem was recognised decades ago, and was named
functional illiteracy.
So why are there still so many people in the UK who cannot read food labels, instructions or prescriptions, withdraw cash or use a mobile phone? Who is to blame? What is done to help them? Who are these functional illiterates? And is Dorset exemplary? Find some answers on this website.
News digest
Unable teachers
Trainee teachers are not able to recognise children who are struggling to grasp how to read, a report by Ofsted states. The study also reveals that using phonics to teach how to spell has not been grasped by many trainee teachers. (27.6.)
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Phonics help with reading
Ofsted has found that the use of systematic phonics programmes help schoolchildren learn to read more quickly. Teachers have reported that the clear structure of these programmes improves the pupils' confidence. (10.6.)
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Driven out by
an apostrophe
A Bournemouth taxi driver was refused his license because his English grammar was not good enough. (31.5.)
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Ofsted raises alarm
One in five pupils leaving primary school cannot read properly Ofsted claims in a recently published study. As a result Ofsted plans more inspections in schools which do not well. Teachers' unions oppose those plans. (20.5.)
