One in five Scots struggle with literacy, report reveals

Published on Friday 4 December 2009 13:33

ESTIMATES that up to a million Scots may be struggling to read and write properly are "very worrying," Education Secretary Mike Russell said today.

The figure came in a report which said Scotland had for years accepted an "intolerable" levels of poor literacy.

The Literacy Commission, which featured crime writer Ian Rankin among its members, said: "The consequence of this failure is shown in the number of adults without such skills.

"The available evidence suggests the total may be approaching a million."

Mr Russell said today: "It's a very worrying number."

He said several factors came into play, like dyslexia, poverty, pupils not concentrating at school – and pupils not liking school.

And he welcomed the "valuable" report of the commission, which was set up by Labour.

This said attempts to tackle illiteracy must concentrate on poor and disadvantaged areas.

Judith Gillespie, who led the commission, said: "There needs to be a zero-tolerance approach to tackling poor literacy and it's time that this problem was effectively addressed.

"At the heart of the commission's findings was the need to address the problems caused by social and economic disadvantage at an early age.

"This should be a key feature in the development of any literacy strategy."

The paper drew on data suggesting about 18% of children leave primary school without being "functionally literate" – equal to about 13,000 children a year.

The former Scottish Executive found that 800,000 adults, of whom 500,000 were in work, had "significant literacy problems".

Today's report called for pilot schemes in council areas serving poor communities to offer "continuous and systematic" support for families with young children.

The commission said evidence from Glasgow illustrated the impact of deprivation on children's development.

Severe problems, including violence and parental drug or alcohol abuse, affected 21 of 24 older pupils in one primary school.

Some four-year-olds arrived at nursery with "barely any language and poorly developed social and motor skills".

Labour leader Iain Gray pledged to "eradicate" illiteracy and said: This report is a huge wake-up call for Scotland.

"With one in five Scots with literacy problems, this means that thousands of Scots will not reach their full potential and Scotland's ability to compete in business and commerce will also suffer."