Has anyone ever wondered why South Africa has the lowest literacy rate in Africa? I think most people spell perfectly and always use the correct punctuation, or am I missing something?

Just thought I would ask here and see what people think of the statistic?

Thanks

I have wondered the same Cerat.

Willingly ignorant?

TH

1. Internet

2. SMSing

3. Mxit

4. Over 12 Official languages

5. A lot of unemployed people, meaning less people go to school

6. Not a lot of people reading books anymore

All these factors contribute to the growing literacy problem. I myself have excellent literacy skills due to the fact that I have been reading since I was six years old.

F1refly wrote: 1. Internet

2. SMSing

3. Mxit

4. Over 12 Official languages

5. A lot of unemployed people, meaning less people go to school

6. Not a lot of people reading books anymore

All these factors contribute to the growing literacy problem. I myself have excellent literacy skills due to the fact that I have been reading since I was six years old.

So you recon all of the above are worse in sa than in countries like congo or angola?

I find it hard to believe.
What excuses do educated people like ourselves have other than some being afrikaans?

But even a lot of us afrikaans people make the tangible effort to be able to communicate efficiently.

I am of opinion it is willfully ignorant. A definite effort to piss people off.

I mean spellcheckers are available every where.

TH

Probably the biggest reason is that reading has gone out of fashion and is widely considered a time-waster.

It also doesn't help if teachers' spelling isn't much better than their pupils'. I've seen loads of examples. Sad...