A literacy specialist has called for urgent, island-wide reforms to Barbados’ education and social services after a government study revealed that more than 95 per cent of violent offenders are reading at the level of a three-year-old, exposing a stark link between illiteracy and crime.
Literacy specialist Shawntelle Morgan told Barbados TODAY she was “deeply concerned” by the findings, which were disclosed by the director of the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit, Cheryl Willoughby, during a recent broadcast of GIS In Focus. Willoughby revealed that the study, conducted in prison, found the vast majority of inmates convicted of violent crimes are functioning at the reading level of a three-year-old.
“We did a study in the prison and over 95 per cent of the inmates charged with violent crimes were reading at the level of age three,” Willoughby said. “So it tells me that we have to look at our educational system. You may have children there who are experiencing learning challenges and we need to be able to pick them out of the mainstream and work with them at an individual level.”
Morgan said the data should be concerning to all Barbadians and education professionals, and underscores the undeniable connection between low literacy and poor life outcomes, including involvement in criminal activity.
“I was deeply concerned, not just because it was offenders, but violent offenders. I think that it really underscores the profound relationship between literacy and social outcomes,” Morgan said. “We see now that literacy is not just a foundational skill for academic success, but things like self-advocacy, problem-solving, and most importantly, navigating societal structures. Individuals with severe literacy deficiencies are often marginalised, disengaged, and vulnerable to social risk, including criminal behaviour.”
She warned that far too many children with undiagnosed learning challenges become disengaged from school and society, and in turn, increase their risk of entering the justice system.
“I think that this really shows the connection between educational failure and crime prevention, because students who are disengaged due to literacy challenges often become excluded from school and society, and this really increases their vulnerability to criminal activities.”
Morgan called for comprehensive screening for literacy and learning challenges from the early stages of education. She stressed the need to go beyond diagnosing dyslexia and to also identify any learning disorders that affect a child’s ability to read and write.
“You want to see teachers having training with evidence-based inclusive literacy instruction, such as structured literacy and practices that support struggling readers and ensure that every student can access the curriculum effectively.
“Schools must also establish intervention programmes that provide individualised and small group instruction for students falling behind. This is the time now to provide individualised, small group, structured instruction for students who are struggling with literacy, and these programmes must be sustained and adequately resourced.”
Morgan said any long-term solution must include collaboration between the education, justice, and social service sectors to create a holistic support framework.
She also stressed the importance of equipping parents to support their children’s literacy development – especially in homes where adults themselves struggle with reading.
“We’re going to have parents that we can give the strategies to support literacy at home. We can give those parents workshops, take-home resources, and community literacy programmes. But we’re also going to have parents who themselves have challenges with literacy, and are therefore not necessarily in a position to support their child or ward in a way that we would really want them to.
“We’re going to have to look at having adult literacy programmes to ensure that those parents are in a position to assist their children, because if you yourself have a challenge, there’s no way that I can come to you and say to you, these are the support systems, these are the avenues that you need to follow to assist your child onward, because you need the support first and foremost.”
The post Literacy export: Urgent education reform needed to break crime cycle appeared first on Barbados Today.
