Numeracy Definition

A numeracy definition provided by National Numeracy is “the ability to understand and use maths in daily life, at home, work or school.”1

It has nothing to do with whether a person can perform complex skills or advanced math but whether the person can use basic math in daily life. It is sometimes labeled as “mathematical literacy.” For example, a mathematically literate person can give correct change, increase a recipe, calculate a percentage or how much to tip, set up a budget, measure medicine doses, and understand a graph used in the news. A numeracy definition is about understanding math and making good decisions with numbers.

Numeracy is often used at work. For example, someone working at a salon needs to calculate the formula for hair dye. A construction worker needs to measure building materials. A contractor needs to create an estimate for how much to charge for a construction job. A chef needs to know how many portions to make. A nurse needs to figure how much medicine to give a patient. According to National Numeracy, every job involves math!2

How does the numeracy definition impact those who never attended school or learned numbers? In the developing world, lack of numeracy creates many barriers. Adults are often taken advantage of in the markets, unable to calculate prices. They are unable to understand contracts or agreements for employment or housing. They can’t understand medical dosing or help their children with their homework. The inability to understand numbers comes with great cost.

Over 250 million women in Asia are illiterate in both math and reading. Many women long to learn, but the resources are unavailable to them or they seem unattainable. This issue isn’t just in the developing world, though. In the United States, there are 43 million adults who can’t read, write and do basic math above a third-grade level.3

Rella is an example of financial illiteracy.4

As a child in Asia, Rella missed the opportunity to go to school. She grew up in an impoverished family, and her parents needed her to stay home and care for her younger siblings. She reached adulthood and was unable to read, write or do basic math.

Her husband, Rahm, was illiterate too, and this dual illiteracy caused many struggles in their life. They couldn’t read legal documents, signs and labels.

“Rella’s lack of education extended to math as well. Without basic math skills, Rella could not count out money whenever she purchased anything from the market. She had no idea how much money she spent and had to seek help from someone else. With every trip to the market came confusion and discouragement.”5

When a Gospel for Asia team of women missionaries began a free literacy class in her community, Rella joined in. She received a literacy book and set out to learn what the squiggles on the page meant. She soaked up the lessons and enjoyed her new knowledge. Five months later, Rella could read and write and was at the top of her literacy class!

Now in the evenings, Rella has begun teaching her husband how to read and write too. She can also help her children with their schoolwork. She can now read street signs, understand literature, food labels, job listings and more. She can understand the prices in the marketplace too. Literacy is breaking the cycle of poverty in Rella’s family.


Click here, to read more about this article.

Click here, to read more blogs in Gospel for Asia.Com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Attitude Towards Suffering

Image
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Everyone, at some point or another, faces suffering, the soldier especially. However, it is not so much what we suffer, but how we suffer that matters. The way our heart responds to suffering is crucial, because by it we will either advance or become stagnant. To suffer like a good soldier is to willingly endure all for the sake of the call. To suffer like a bad soldier is to grumble when difficult situations and hardship arise. Instead of throwing our lives into what God has called us to, we can try to hold on to our lives, wanting to get away with as little suffering as possible, paying as little price as possible. We have forgotten that we are under the orders of our Master and that we willingly gave up our lives. Christ’s Example of Suffering Christ lived with the expectation of suffering. Throughout the Gospels, He repeatedly referred to ...
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e...
Read more

Where Can I Learn How to Break the Cycle of Poverty?

Image
There are many methods for how to break the cycle of poverty which one can learn about. From education assistance to income-generating gifts like sewing machines or farm animals, there is hope for families who have been poor for generations. GFA World works in communities in all these ways through sponsorships and gift distributions, and one by one, we see lives changed as families escape poverty. Raina’s life had been dominated by poverty. She was part of a highly underprivileged people group that faced discrimination and deprivation from others in the region. Despite that, Raina had been able to attend school up until tenth grade, but she discontinued her education when it became too much for her parents to afford. Rather than receiving her certificates of completion, she had to join her parents in the field to earn money to put food on the table. After she married Ander, Raina continued to work in the fields to supplement his income with her own. In search of better job opportunitie...
Read more