A Feb. 16 report on the country’s literacy has been causing a stir on social media, prompting a number of users to warn of impending intellectual doom.
The report on Bunshun Online discussed a 2013 study compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that showed that around 50 percent of adults from developed countries were unable to read or comprehend simple sentences. The survey was conducted in an attempt to investigate the causes behind increasing unemployment rates in Europe.
The survey, conducted by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), measured respondents’ proficiency in information-processing skills such as literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments on around 157,000 adults between the ages of 16 and 65 in 24 OECD countries.