Despite the increased access to education, a significant number of people cannot read or write. What are the disadvantages and what action should the government take?
Sample Response
The 21st century has witnessed the growth of universal education, yet many people remain affected by illiteracymany are suffering from illiteracy. This essay will discuss the disadvantages as well as how this grave issue can be tackled.
As a matter of course, not being able to read or write will limit one’s accessaccessibility to general knowledge. Nowadays, written sources of information still account for the majority of knowledge. Take signposts, for example, the best option on the road for a driver to rely on to locate his whereabouts are road signs. However, because these signs contain written informationwith these being written signs, people who are unable to read have to find less direct alternativescounterintuitive alternatives to find directionslook for directions. Moreover, illiteracy can put one at a great disadvantage at work, where written messagesat work where written messages play a crucial role in day-to-day communication. What most white-collar positions require these days is the ability to perform basic office tasks such as typing. This means that illiterate people would not be qualified for any of these jobsand may consequently be limited to, and consequently, are tied to low-paid manual jobsblue-collar, low-paid posts.
Nevertheless, there are a number of solutions that can be applied to alleviate this issue. First, ensuring universal education will play a significant role in the fight against illiteracy. Basic classes that teach reading and writing should be openly accessible tofor citizens of all ages, especially the disadvantaged or ethnic minority groups. Furthermore, educational infrastructureinfrastructure concerning education such as schools and roads needs to be constructed and improved in a way that people in all places can gain access to educational institutions easily. In Vietnam, many ethnic children have lost their right to learn due to poor road conditions; therefore, infrastructure should be one of the first areas that need fixing.
The lack of fundamental skills such as reading or writing certainly results in major setbacks in one’s knowledge and career path. Yet changes can be made to enable the illiterate to stand an equal chance in life through universal education and education-related infrastructure.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response is strongest in its thorough, well-organised treatment of both the disadvantages of illiteracy and practical government action, with relevant examples supporting each point. The main limitation is occasional awkward or inaccurate phrasing and a few sentence-level slips. The highest-priority improvement is to refine collocations and proofread complex sentences so the otherwise precise argument is expressed with consistently natural control.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both parts of the task are fully addressed through developed disadvantages and relevant, practical government measures.
Make the proposed education programmes slightly more operational by explaining how governments could reach adults and remote groups.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically sequenced, clearly paragraphed, and cohesively links examples to each main idea.
Vary a few overt linking phrases so relationships between ideas remain smooth without sounding signposted.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide and generally precise, with effective topic-specific language despite a few unnatural collocations.
Replace awkward choices such as accessibility to general knowledge and counterintuitive alternatives with more idiomatic wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex sentences is handled accurately overall, though a few agreement and sentence-boundary problems remain.
Proofread multi-clause examples carefully to correct slips such as a singular subject followed by are and comma-spliced clauses.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Despite the increased access to education, a significant number of people cannot read or write. What are the disadvantages and what action should the government take?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.