Improving Adult Literacy In South Carolina
Doesn’t Cost - It Pays
South Carolina has one of the lowest high school completion rates and one of the lowest literacy rates in the country. Over 600,000 South Carolinians do not have a high school diploma and lack the literacy/technical skills they need to find and hold a good job. We have a responsibility to understand this issue and support adult literacy. Our state’s economic future depends on it.
Today’s employers face global competition that requires a high performance workplace with employees who can solve problems, work in teams, manage processes instead of discreet tasks and adapt to changes in technology. An organization cannot compete or grow if its employees lack basic skills in reading, math and communication. Employers who cannot compete do not stay in business.
Our state budget depends upon a healthy tax base provided by working South Carolinians. Too many of our adults cannot find and hold good jobs because they lack education and skills. We need strong, accessible programs for basic literacy, including workforce training, English as a Second Language (ESL), high school completion, and computer literacy. These and dropout prevention programs are essential to equip adults with the basic skills they need for success in the workplace.
South Carolina’s Adult Education and Literacy providers operate on small budgets. These locally driven programs reached over 80,000 adult learners during the 2002-03 year. Programs operate in local school districts, community-based organizations, prisons, local jails, One-Stop centers, workplaces and Vocational Rehabilitation centers and the sixteen technical colleges.
The continued growth of South Carolina’s economy depends upon having and adequate pool of educated, well-trained, technologically savvy workers. If the jobs of the future cannot exist in South Carolina, our state’s standard of living, which already lags behind the national average, will continue its steady erosion. Increasing the skills of the workforce improves operating efficiencies, reduces labor costs, lowers turnover rates, reduces waste, lowers accident rates, and reduces the worker’s compensation costs, which all translate into economic stability and bright futures for South Carolinians.
Literacy is the ability to read, write, and speak English proficiently, to compute and to solve problems in order to become a life-long learner and be effective in the family, the workplace, and the community.
According to the National Assessment for Adult Literacy, 25% of South Carolinians have difficulty reading a map or completing a simple job application.
- One third of South Carolina's working population lacks a high school diploma. (US Census)
- Only 51% graduate from high school in four years.
- 75% of the South Carolina inmate population is illiterate.
- A high school dropout earns an average of $12, 440 a year compared to a person with a high school diploma who earns an average of $22, 350 a year.
- Our growing Hispanic workforce is expected to reach 275,000 by 2008: at least 70% are illiterate in their own language.
- The single most significant indicator of a child's success in school is the education level of the mother. In 2002, 11,000 children were born to mothers with less than a high school diploma.
- 62% of the individuals receiving services from DSS have not completed high school.
Budgets for adult education and literacy programs have been dramatically decreased by 29% (over $4 million) in the last three state budgets. The ever-increasing need to serve the undereducated population cannot be effectively met with a shrinking budget.
Target Group/Activity Matrix - Adult Literacy Alliance
Target Group/Activity Matrix - Adult Literacy Alliance (PDF)
