Sir, - You report (June 15th) again that "some 25 per cent of Irish adults are functionally illiterate and approximately another 20 per cent can perform only simple reading and writing tasks" without distinguishing between males and females. Your report does not say if the surveys so distinguished and reported.
Since it is reliably reported that about 80 per cent of school pupils with reading difficulties are males, we may presume that it is likewise for adults. On that basis, if only 55 per cent of all adults can perform reading and writing tasks above the "simple" level, the rate is only 25 per cent for males and 76 per cent for females. Literacy difficulties are largely a male problem. That has huge implications.
Male reading failure is totally unnecessary. It would be non-existent if reading and writing training from day one attended to male needs separately from female needs. - Yours, etc.,
Joe Foyle, Director, Read Ireland, Sandford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.