• gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        9 hours ago

        That factoid keeps getting pulled out.

        It’s literally untrue, or at the very least misrepresented.

        Half of the country of the USA have only passed 5th Grade English exams, because they then dropped English in preference of other subjects.

        That does not mean they are incapable, just that they’ve only got a little piece of paper somewhere saying “I passed a pointless test!” up to that point.

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        18 hours ago

        I’d put that down to atrophied reading skills. Actual illiteracy is usually a sign that someone never learned, there’s also functional illiteracy wherein someone can technically read and write but they aren’t interacting with it beyond parroting the words.