THE UNITED States of America is home to some of the best learning institutions in the world. The hallowed precincts of the US universities are amongst the most sought after destinations of international students and scholars who flock in large numbers to these institutions every year. However, there is a dark side to the US education scenario that the world’s leader in education would like to conceal from the rest of the world – the American illiterates. As astonishing as it might sound, it is nonetheless true that USA is home to seven million illiterates. Further, there are 27 million Americans whose inability to read inhibits them from completing job applications and 30 million US citizens cannot read a simple sentence.

 
UNESCO puts the figure of illiterates in developing countries at 900 million. America’s National Institute of Literacy has lamented that 113 million children around the world do not have access to primary education. While lamenting the lack of educational facilities in the developing world these agencies have conveniently ignored the prevalence of illiteracy in rich nations, notably USA. USA’s National Adult Literacy Survey in an earlier work found that four percent of adult Americans could not even perform the simplest literacy tasks the survey warranted. According to various independent studies, reading proficiency among Americans is poor with even a number of college students having reading difficulties.
 
The social implication of adult illiteracy in America is rather complex. Illiteracy is something like a social stigma in the developed world. To make matters worse it is humiliating to adult Americans to acknowledge their learning deficiency that gives rise to some unusually difficult problems. Inability to read road signs limits travel. They are unable to read newspapers and food labels in supermarkets. Many of them even stay away from voting in elections as they fail to realise whom to vote or what to vote for. Perhaps the greatest impact of illiteracy in USA is the impact it has on physical health. According to a recent study by the Archives of Internal Medicine, patients with difficulty in reading prescriptions were 50 per cent more likely to die from diseases than patients who were literate. Inability to properly follow instructions, not knowing common conditions or what symptoms to look for, adversely affect the physical health of these people.
 
The pertinent question that arises is what possibly would be the reasons that have given rise to a large number of illiterates in a country that boasts of a school education system that all its citizens can access. Experts attribute undiagnosed learning disorders, poverty and an unstable home life as factors that create illiteracy. Who then in the country should bear the blame for the prevalence of illiteracy? Parents blame the school system for failing to diagnose learning disorders. The school system points its finger at the state and federal funding programmes. Legislators fault the educational authorities and demand a new and improved curriculum. The educational authorities are putting the onus on parents to take more responsibility for literacy in homes. Even as these mutual recriminations continue, the illiterate Americans continue to suffer.