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67-507: In 1933, independence activist Dasarathi Tah was involved in Swadeshi dacoities in Meral, Mirzapur and Bogra in the area. Damodar floods wrought havoc in the area and Dasarathi Tah initiated the ‘Nakrah hana embankment movement’ and even published a weekly newspaper named Damodar to focus on the problems faced by the people. In 1948, Raina witnessed the ‘Tebhaga movement’, where sharecroppers demanded

134-552: A Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party ticket in 1951, he fought the other elections on a Praja Socialist Party ticket. Dasarathi Tah was a pioneering journalist. He edited and published the weekly Damodar before independence and then started the daily Damodar after independence. Both were the earliest in their category in Bardhaman district . This article about a West Bengal politician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Literacy#Gender disparities Literacy

201-494: A higher share of the crops they grew. The movement was led by Benoy Choudhury and Bipadtaran Roy. Great revolutionary Rashbehari Bose was born in village-Subaldaha, Block-Raina 2, Dist-Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal. Madhabdihi is located at 23°00′49″N 87°51′45″E  /  23.0136910°N 87.8626170°E  / 23.0136910; 87.8626170 . Raina II CD Block is part of the Khandaghosh Plain, which lies in

268-729: A particular social context (even if that context is "school"), and, after print acquisition, every instance of reading or writing will be for a specific purpose and occasion with particular readers and writers in mind. Reading and writing, therefore, are never separable from social and cultural elements. A corollary point made by David Barton and Rosalind Ivanić , among others, is that the cognitive and societal effects of acquiring literacy are not easily predictable, since, as Brian Street has argued, "the ways in which people address reading and writing are themselves rooted in conceptions of knowledge, identity, and being." Consequently, as Jack Goody has documented, historically, literacy has included

335-407: A precursor to early cuneiform writing once people began recording information on clay tablets. Proto-Cuneiform texts exhibit not only numerical signs but also ideograms depicting objects being counted. Though the traditional view had been that cuneiform literacy was restricted to a class of scribes, assyriologists including Claus Wilcke and Dominique Charpin have argued that functional literacy

402-530: A pucca (paved) approach road and 66 villages (75.86%) have transport communication (includes bus service, rail facility and navigable waterways). 25 villages (28.74%) have agricultural credit societies . 9 villages (10.34%) have banks. In 2013-14, there were 90 fertiliser depots, 8 seed stores and 39 fair price shops in the CD Block. Persons engaged in agriculture in Raina II CD Block Although

469-621: A resurgence as a result, and by the 15th century, paper was widespread. The Reformation stressed the importance of literacy and being able to read the Bible. The Protestant countries were the first to attain full literacy. In a more secular context, inspired by the Enlightenment , Sweden implemented programs in 1723 aimed at making the population fully literate. Other countries implemented similar measures at this time. These included Denmark in 1739, Poland in 1783, and France in 1794/5. Literacy

536-679: A survey by Adams revealed that there were 190 Sanskrit tols in Bardhaman district. Out of this 13 were in Raina. The same report also mentioned Persian schools in the area. In 2013-14, Raina II CD Block had 113 primary schools with 6,668 students, 7 middle schools with 376 students, 18 high schools with 9,621 students and 10 higher secondary schools with 9,784 students. Raina II CD Block had 1 general college with 683 students, 3 technical/ professional institutes with 1,552 students and 265 institutions for special and non-formal education with 8,154 students. As per

603-438: A total literacy of 75.17 per cent for the 6+ age group. While male literacy was 84.18 per cent female literacy was 65.59 per cent. Bardhaman district had a total literacy of 70.18 per cent, male literacy being 78.63 per cent and female literacy being 60.95 per cent. See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate Primary Census Abstract Data In the 2011 census Hindus numbered 125,414 and formed 82.84% of

670-438: A total population of 151,401, all of which were rural. There were 77,538 (51%) males and 73,863 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 15,330. Scheduled Castes numbered 61,660 (40.73%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 6,062 (4.00%). As per 2001 census, Raina II block had a total population of 137,458, out of which 70,945 were males and 66,513 were females. Raina II block registered a population growth of 12.24 per cent during

737-1060: A whole Aman paddy constituted 64.32% of the total area under paddy cultivation, while the area under Boro and Aus paddy constituted 32.87% and 2.81% respectively. The expansion of Boro paddy cultivation, with higher yield rates, was the result of expansion of irrigation system and intensive cropping. In 2013-14, the total area irrigated in Raina II CD Block was 14,198.79 hectares, out of which 13,180.33 hectares were irrigated by canal water, 226.15 hectares by river lift irrigation and 792.31 hectares by deep tube wells. In 2013-14, Raina II CD Block had offices of 6 commercial banks and 3 gramin banks . Raina II CD Block has 3 ferry services and 15 originating/ terminating bus routes. SH 7 running from Rajgram (in Birbhum district) to Midnapore (in Paschim Medinipur district) passes through this CD Block. The Raina area had not lagged behind in education. In 1838,

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804-453: Is also gaining momentum. The traditional concept of literacy widened as a consensus emerged among researchers in composition studies , education research , and anthropological linguistics that it makes little sense to speak of reading or writing outside of a specific context, with linguist James Paul Gee describing it as "simply incoherent." For example, even the extremely early stages of acquiring mastery over symbol shapes take place in

871-559: Is at Madhabdihi. It is from this area that the Mundeswari River originates. The small Ratnela khal also originates in the region and later flows into the Ghia river in Hooghly district . Gram panchayats of Raina II block/ panchayat samiti are: Arui, Barabainan, Gotan , Kaity, Pahalanpur , Painta I, Painta I, Painta II and Uchalan . As per the 2011 Census of India Raina II CD Block had

938-482: Is concentrated among younger people," along with increased rates among rural populations and women. This evidence indicates that illiteracy is a complex phenomenon with multiple factors impacting rates of illiteracy and the type of illiteracy one may experience. Literacy has rapidly spread in several regions in the last twenty-five years, and the United Nations's global initiative with Sustainable Development Goal 4

1005-593: Is more consistent with an early form of Canaanite that was used c.  1100 BCE . While the earliest Greek inscriptions are dated circa 8th century BCE, epigraphical comparisons to Proto-Canaanite suggest that the Greeks may have adopted the consonantal alphabet as early as 1100 BCE and later "added in five characters to represent vowels". Phoenician, which is considered to contain the first linear alphabet, rapidly spread to Mediterranean port cities in northern Canaan. Some archeologists believe that Phoenician influenced

1072-468: Is one of the areas of Bardhaman district which is affected by moderately high levels of arsenic contamination of ground water. Dasarathi Tah Dasarathi Tah (1911–1980) was a politician and journalist in the Indian state of West Bengal . Dasarathi Tah did not have the benefit of any formal education and was a completely self-educated person. Politically inclined from his younger days, he joined

1139-435: Is part of spatial, audio, and visual patterns (Rhodes & Robnolt, 2009)". Objections have been raised that this concept downplays the importance of reading instruction that focuses on "alphabetic representations". However, these are not mutually exclusive , as children can become proficient in word-reading while engaging with multiliteracies. Word reading is fundamental for multiple forms of communication. Beginning in

1206-499: Is part of the area where agriculture dominates the scenario but the secondary and tertiary sectors have shown an increasing trend. There are 87 inhabited villages in Raina II CD block. All 87 villages (100%) have power supply. All 87 villages (100%) have drinking water supply. 21 villages (24.14%) have post offices. 80 villages (91.95%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones). 49 villages (56.32%) have

1273-545: Is the ability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was understood solely as alphabetical literacy (word and letter recognition); and the period after 1950, when literacy slowly began to be considered as a wider concept and process, including the social and cultural aspects of reading and writing and functional literacy . The range of definitions of literacy used by NGOs , think tanks , and advocacy groups since

1340-759: The Congress Party in 1930 and actively participated in many political movements such as the Salt Satyagraha , personal satyagraha , flood prevention in the Damodar , and the canal movement. During the Quit India Movement he was involved in the occupation of Jamalpur police station. He was sent to jail several times for his political activities. He won elections to the West Bengal state assembly from Raina constituency in 1951, 1957 and 1967. While he contested on

1407-510: The Harappa culture. Existing evidence suggests that most early acts of literacy were, in some areas (such as Egypt), closely tied to power and chiefly used for management practices, and probably less than 1% of the population was literate, as it was confined to a very small group. Scholarship by others, such as Dominique Charpin and a project from the European Union , however, suggest that this

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1474-441: The ancient Semitic-speaking peoples of northern Canaan invented the consonantal alphabet as early as 1500 BCE. Much of this theory's development is credited to English archeologist Flinders Petrie , who, in 1905, came across a series of Canaanite inscriptions in the turquoise mines of Serabit el-Khadem . Ten years later, English Egyptologist Alan Gardiner reasoned that these letters contain an alphabet as well as references to

1541-460: The 1940s, the term literacy has often been used to mean having knowledge or skill in a particular field, such as: Functional illiteracy relates to adults and has been defined in different ways: Functional illiteracy is distinguished from primary illiteracy (i.e., the inability to read and write a short, simple statement concerning one's own everyday life) and learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia ). These categories have been contested—as has

1608-570: The 1990s suggests that this shift in understanding from "discrete skill" to "social practice" is both ongoing and uneven. Some definitions remain fairly closely aligned with the traditional "ability to read and write" connotation, whereas others take a broader view: The concept of multiliteracies has gained currency, particularly in English Language Arts curricula, on the grounds that reading "is interactive and informative, and occurs in ever-increasingly technological settings where information

1675-659: The 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for Bardhaman district was 14.36 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent. Scheduled castes at 55,329 formed more than one-third the population. Scheduled tribes numbered 5,644. Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Raina II CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Uchalan (7,439), Nandanpur (4,329), Chhota Bainan (6,480), Bara Bainan (6,110), Pahalanpur (4,180), Kamarhati (4,872) and Gotan (4,498). Other villages in Raina II CD Block include (2011 census figures in brackets): Arui (3,322), Kaiti (2,644), Painta (3,841), Kamargoria (1,378) and Muidhara (1,376). As per

1742-406: The 2011 census the total number of literates in Raina II CD Block was 110,865 (81.48% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 61,067 (87.69% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 49,798 (74.96% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 12.73%. As per 2001 census, Raina II block had

1809-734: The 2011 census, in Raina II CD block, amongst the 87 inhabited villages, 4 villages did not have schools, 45 villages had two or more primary schools, 36 villages had at least 1 primary and 1 middle school and 30 villages had at least 1 middle and 1 secondary school. More than 6,000 schools (in erstwhile Bardhaman district) serve cooked midday meal to more than 900,000 students. Acharya Sukumar Sen Mahavidyalaya has been established in 2013 at Gotan In 2014, Raina II CD Block had 1 block primary health centre and 5 primary health centres with total 39 beds and 8 doctors (excluding private bodies). It had 21 family welfare subcentres. 2,752 patients were treated indoor and 215,443 patients were treated outdoor in

1876-565: The 4th and 5th centuries, the Church made efforts to ensure a better clergy, especially the bishops, who were expected to have a classical education—the hallmark of a socially acceptable person in higher society. Even after the remnants of the Western Roman Empire fell in the 470s, literacy continued to be a distinguishing mark of the elite, as communication skills were still important in political and church life (bishops were largely drawn from

1943-463: The Apostles' epistles or some other part of Scripture. And if he is illiterate he shall go at the first, third and sixth hours to someone who can teach and has been appointed for him. He shall stand before him and learn very studiously and with all gratitude. The fundamentals of a syllable, the verbs and nouns shall all be written for him and even if he does not want to he shall be compelled to read. During

2010-922: The Bargadari Act of 1950 recognised the rights of bargadars to a higher share of crops from the land that they tilled, it was not implemented fully. Large tracts, beyond the prescribed limit of land ceiling, remained with the rich landlords. From 1977 onwards major land reforms took place in West Bengal. Land in excess of land ceiling was acquired and distributed amongst the peasants. Following land reforms land ownership pattern has undergone transformation. In 2013-14, persons engaged in agriculture Raina II could be classified as follows: bargadars 6.21%, patta (document) holders 16.64%, small farmers (possessing land between 1 and 2 hectares) 7.18%, marginal farmers (possessing land up to 1 hectare) 28.28% and agricultural labourers 41.69%. In 2003-04 net cropped area in Raina II Block

2077-462: The Canaanite goddess Asherah . In 1948, William F. Albright deciphered the text using new evidence, including a series of inscriptions from Ugarit . Discovered in 1929 by French archaeologist Claude F. A. Schaeffer , some of these inscriptions were mythological texts (written in an early Canaanite dialect) that consisted of a 30-letter cuneiform consonantal alphabet. Another significant discovery

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2144-587: The Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets, as these languages evolved during the same time period, share similar features, and are commonly categorized into the same language group. When the Israelites migrated to Canaan between 1200 and 1000 BCE, they adopted a variation of the Canaanite alphabet. Baruch ben Neriah , Jeremiah's scribe, used this alphabet to create the later scripts of the Old Testament . The early Hebrew alphabet

2211-737: The Kingdom of Nabataea, then to the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas, eventually making its way to Africa; and east, where it later influenced the development of the Brahmi script in India. Over the next few centuries, Imperial Aramaic script in Persia evolved into Pahlavi , "as well as for a range of alphabets used by early Turkish and Mongol tribes in Siberia , Mongolia and Turkestan ". During this period, literacy spread among

2278-701: The Late Bronze Age , successor alphabets appeared throughout the Mediterranean region and were used in Phoenician , Hebrew , and Aramaic . According to Goody, these cuneiform scripts may have influenced the development of the Greek alphabet several centuries later. Historically, the Greeks contended that their writing system was modeled after the Phoenicians. However, many Semitic scholars now believe that Ancient Greek

2345-758: The Pacific , as well as Latin America and the Caribbean , have adult literacy rates over 90%. In other regions, illiteracy persists at higher rates; as of 2013, the adult literacy rate in South Asia and North Africa was 67.55% and 59.76% in Sub-Saharan Africa . In much of the world, high youth literacy rates suggest that illiteracy will become less common as more educated younger generations replace less educated older ones. However, in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where

2412-468: The actions and judgments of government officials. Indus script is largely pictorial and has not yet been deciphered; as such, it is unknown whether it includes abstract signs. It is thought that they wrote from right to left and that the script is logographic . Because it has not been deciphered, linguists disagree on whether it is a complete and independent writing system; however, it is generally thought to be an independent writing system that emerged in

2479-780: The alluvial plains between the Damodar on its northern/ eastern side and the Dwarakeswar River . As a result, it has been a flood prone area. Raina II CD Block is bounded by Raina I CD Block on the north, Jamalpur CD Block on the east, Pursurah , Aramabgh and Goghat I CD Blocks, in Hooghly district, in the south, and Khandaghosh CD Block on the west. Raina II CD Block has an area of 227.28 km. It has 1 panchayat samity , 8 gram panchayats , 119 gram sansads (village councils), 94 mouzas and 87 inhabited villages. Madhabdihi police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block

2546-429: The ancient Sumerians invented writing . During this era, literacy was "a largely functional matter, propelled by the need to manage the new quantities of information and the new type of governance created by trade and large scale production". Early writing systems first emerged as a recording system in which people used tokens with impressed markings to manage trade and agricultural production. The token system served as

2613-648: The benefits of literacy, some recent literature in economics, starting with the work of Kaushik Basu and James Foster, distinguishes between a "proximate illiterate" and an "isolated illiterate". A "proximate illiterate" lives in a household with literate members, while an "isolated illiterate" lives in a household where everyone is illiterate. Isolated illiteracy is more common among older populations in wealthier nations, where people are less likely to live in multigenerational households with potentially literate relatives. A 2018/2019 UNESCO report noted that "conversely, in low and lower middle income countries, isolated illiteracy

2680-508: The book and the register" and that "no one, either free or slave, could afford to be illiterate". Similarly, Dupont points out, "The written word was all around them, in both public and private life: laws, calendars, regulations at shrines, and funeral epitaphs were engraved in stone or bronze. The Republic amassed huge archives of reports on every aspect of public life." The imperial civilian administration produced masses of documentation used in judicial, fiscal, and administrative matters, as did

2747-705: The common people, both in town and country, are equally intense in their admiration. Frequently, have we seen the butcher-boy, with his tray on his shoulder, reading with the greatest avidity the last "Pickwick"; the footman (whose fopperies are so inimitably laid bare), the maidservant, the chimney sweep, all classes, in fact, read "Boz". From the mid-19th century onward, the Second Industrial Revolution saw technological improvements in paper production. The new distribution networks, enabled by improved roads and rail, resulted in an increased capacity to supply printed material. Social and educational changes increased

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2814-466: The competition of the world. In the late 19th century, gas and electric lighting were becoming more common in private homes, replacing candlelight and oil lamps, enabling reading after dark and increasing the appeal of literacy. Data published by UNESCO shows that the worldwide literacy rate among adults has increased, on average, by 5 percentage points every decade since 1950, from 55.7% in 1950 to 86.2% in 2015. Due to rapid population growth , while

2881-555: The concept of "illiteracy" itself—for being predicated on narrow assumptions, primarily derived from school-based contexts, about what counts as reading and writing (e.g., comprehending and following instructions). Script is thought to have developed independently at least five times in human history: in Mesopotamia , Egypt , the Indus civilization , lowland Mesoamerica , and China . Between 3500 BCE and 3000 BCE, in southern Mesopotamia,

2948-525: The demand for reading matter, as rising literacy rates, particularly among the middle and working classes, created a new mass market for printed material. Wider schooling helped increase literacy rates, which in turn helped lower the cost of publication. Unskilled labor forces were common in Western Europe, and, as British industry improved, more engineers and skilled workers who could handle technical instructions and complex situations were needed. Literacy

3015-629: The elite. These oracle-bone inscriptions were the early ancestors of modern Chinese script and contained logosyllabic script and numerals. By the time of the consolidation of the Chinese Empire during the Qin and Han dynasties ( c.  200 BCE ), written documents were central to the formation and policing of a hierarchical bureaucratic governance structure reinforced through law. Within this legal order, written records kept track of and controlled citizen movements, created records of misdeeds, and documented

3082-461: The first alphabetic system ( c.  750 BCE ) that used distinctive signs for consonants and vowels. Goody contests: The importance of Greek culture of the subsequent history of Western Europe has led to an over-emphasis, by classicists and others, on the addition of specific vowel signs to the set of consonantal ones that had been developed earlier in Western Asia. Many scholars argue that

3149-399: The hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD Block. Madhabdihi Rural Hospital at Madhabdihi , PO Chhoto-bainan (with 30 beds) is the main medical facility in Raina II CD block. There are primary health centres at Binodpur, PO Bajekamarpur (with 2 beds), Gotan (with 6 beds), Kaity (with 10 beds), Painta (with 4 beds) and Subaldaha, PO Barabainan (with 10 beds). Raina II CD Block

3216-497: The lack of a suitable writing medium, as when the Western Roman Empire collapsed, the import of papyrus to Europe ceased. Since papyrus perishes easily and does not last well in the wetter European climate, parchment was used, which was expensive and accessible only by the church and the wealthy. Paper was introduced into Europe via Spain in the 11th century and spread north slowly over the next four centuries. Literacy saw

3283-420: The merchant classes, and 15-20% of the total population may have been literate. The Aramaic language declined with the spread of Islam , which was accompanied by the spread of Arabic . Until recently, it was thought that the majority of people were illiterate in the classical world, though recent work challenges this perception. Anthony DiRenzo asserts that Roman society was "a civilization based on

3350-488: The municipalities. The army kept extensive records relating to supply and duty rosters and submitted reports. Merchants, shippers, and landowners (and their personal staffs), especially of the larger enterprises, must have been literate. In the late fourth century, the Desert Father Pachomius would expect the literacy of a candidate for admission to his monasteries: They shall give him twenty Psalms or two of

3417-747: The percentage of adults who were illiterate decreased, the actual number of illiterate adults increased from 700 million in 1950 to 878 million in 1990, before starting to decrease and falling to 745 million by 2015. The number of illiterate adults remains higher than in 1950, "despite decades of universal education policies, literacy interventions and the spread of print material and information and communications technology (ICT)". Available global data indicates significant variations in literacy rates between world regions. North America, Europe, West Asia , and Central Asia have almost achieved full literacy for men and women aged 15 or older. Most countries in East Asia and

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3484-463: The population in Raina II CD Block. Muslims numbered 25,551 and formed 16.88% of the population. Christians numbered 109 and formed 0.07% of the population. Others numbered 327 and formed 0.22% of the population. In Bardhaman district the percentage of Hindu population has been declining from 84.3% in 1961 to 77.9% in 2011 and the percentage of Muslim population has increased from 15.2% in 1961 to 20.7% in 2011. Languages of Raina II CD block (2011) At

3551-526: The senatorial class) in a new cultural synthesis that made "Christianity the Roman religion". However, these skills were less needed in the absence of a large imperial administrative apparatus whose middle and top echelons were dominated by the elite. Even so, in pre-modern times, it is unlikely that literacy was found in more than about 30–40% of the population. During the Dark Ages , the highest percentage of literacy

3618-737: The seventh century BCE. In the Near East , it was common to record events on clay using the cuneiform script; however, writing Aramaic on leather parchments became common during the Neo-Assyrian empire. With the rise of the Persians in the 5th century BCE, Achaemenid rulers adopted Aramaic as the "diplomatic language". Darius the Great standardized Aramaic, which became the Imperial Aramaic script. This Imperial Aramaic alphabet rapidly spread: west, to

3685-596: The south-western part of the district, The Damodar flows through the area. The bed of the Damodar is higher than the surrounding areas and the right bank is protected against floods with embankments in portions of the south of the Damodar River. The region has alluvial soil of recent origin. Unlike the rest of Bardhaman district, which lies to the north of the Damodar River , the Khandaghosh -Jamalpur- Raina area lies on

3752-476: The time of the 2011 census, 97.23% of the population spoke Bengali and 2.64% Santali as their first language. As per poverty estimates obtained from household survey for families living below poverty line in 2005, rural poverty in Raina II CD Block was 28.50%. In Raina II CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators formed 20.86%, agricultural labourers 48.66%, household industry workers 1.51% and other workers 20.16%. Raina II CD Block

3819-471: The transformation of social systems that rely on literacy and the changing uses of literacy within those evolving systems. According to 2015 data collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics , about two-thirds (63%) of the world's illiterate adults are women. This disparity was even starker in previous decades, and from 1970 to 2000, the global gender gap in literacy decreased significantly. Around

3886-471: The vast majority of the world's illiterate youth live, lower school enrollment implies that illiteracy will persist to a greater degree. According to 2013 data, the youth literacy rate (ages 15 to 24) is 84% in South Asia and North Africa and 70% in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the distinction between literacy and illiteracy is not clear-cut. Given that having a literate person in the household confers many of

3953-419: Was 17,262 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 9,500 hectares. In 2013-14, Raina II CD Block produced 3,887 tonnes of Aman paddy , the main winter crop, from 1,357 hectares, 17,517 tonnes of Boro paddy (spring crop) from 4,266 hectares, 25 tonnes of wheat from 10 hectares and 81,509 tonnes of potatoes from 4,827 hectares. It also produced pulses and oilseeds. In Bardhaman district as

4020-522: Was essential to be hired. A senior government official told Parliament in 1870: Upon the speedy provision of elementary education depends our industrial prosperity. It is of no use trying to give technical teaching to our citizens without elementary education; uneducated labourers—and many of our labourers are utterly uneducated—are, for the most part, unskilled labourers, and if we leave our work–folk any longer unskilled, notwithstanding their strong sinews and determined energy, they will become overmatched in

4087-592: Was first used by the Olmec and Zapotec civilizations in 900–400 BCE. These civilizations used glyphic writing and bar-and-dot numerical notation systems for purposes related to royal iconography and calendar systems. The earliest written notations in China date back to the Shang dynasty in 1200 BCE. These systematic notations, inscribed on bones, recorded sacrifices made, tributes received, and animals hunted, which were activities of

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4154-466: Was found among the clergy and monks, as they made up much of the staff needed to administer the states of western Europe. An abundance of graffiti written in the Nabataean script dating back to the beginning of the first millennium CE has been taken to imply a relatively high degree of literacy among the general population in the ancient Arabic-speaking world. Post-Antiquity illiteracy was made worse by

4221-542: Was made in 1953 when three arrowheads were uncovered, each containing identical Canaanite inscriptions from 12th century BCE. According to Frank Moore Cross , these inscriptions consisted of alphabetic signs that originated during the transitional development from pictographic script to a linear alphabet. Moreover, he asserts, "These inscriptions also provided clues to extend the decipherment of earlier and later alphabetic texts". The Canaanite script's consonantal system inspired alphabetical developments in later systems. During

4288-572: Was not the case in all ancient societies: both Charpin and the EU's emerging scholarship suggest that writing and literacy were far more widespread in Mesopotamia than scholars previously thought. According to social anthropologist Jack Goody , there are two interpretations regarding the origin of the alphabet. Many classical scholars, such as historian Ignace Gelb , credit the Ancient Greeks for creating

4355-519: Was prominent in the Mediterranean region until Neo-Babylonian rulers exiled the Jews to Babylon in the 6th century BCE. It was then that the new script ( Square Hebrew ) emerged, and the older one rapidly died out. The Aramaic alphabet also emerged sometime between 1200 and 1000 BCE. Although early examples are scarce, archeologists have uncovered a wide range of later Aramaic texts, written as early as

4422-574: Was somewhat widespread by the Old Babylonian period. Nonetheless, professional scribes became central to law, finances, accounting, government, administration, medicine, magic, divination, literature, and prayers. Egyptian hieroglyphs emerged between 3300 BCE and 3100 BCE; the iconography emphasized power among royals and other elites. The Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system was the first notation system to have phonetic values; these symbols are called phonograms . Writing in lowland Mesoamerica

4489-669: Was well established in early 18th century England, when books geared towards children became far more common. Near the end of the century, as many as 50 were printed every year in major cities around England. In the 19th century, reading would become even more common in the United Kingdom. Public notes, broadsides, handbills, catchpennies and printed songs would have been usual street literature before newspapers became common. Other forms of popular reading material included advertising for events, theaters, and goods for sale. In his 1836/1837 Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens's said that: even

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