Illiteracy, a scourge that affects 7% of working people

Although the number of illiterate people in France has decreased in twenty years, it is nonetheless too high: 2.5 million individuals have in fact left the education system in France without mastering the basics, i.e. 7% of the population aged 18 to 65 (versus 9% in 2004), according to the National Agency for the Fight against Illiteracy (ANLCI), at the initiative of national days of action against this scourge, the 9^e edition runs until September 15.

A sign of recent collective awareness, the subject of illiteracy has inspired two television films. The second will be released in January, the first, Champion, directed by Mona Achache, was broadcast last Monday on TF1, starring Kendji Girac, who was making his first appearance as an actor. The young singer portrays a 24-year-old carpenter there who managed to hide his illiteracy, until his father’s accident led him to head the family business. And there, he is forced to admit that he does not know…