Guttural Screaming Noises

Often shared in a tone of condescension or self-defeating cynicism, various iterations of infographics emphasizing the low interest of reading in Indonesia had made its rounds time and time again, much to my absolute annoyance. "According to UNESCO only 1 out of 1000 Indonesian shows interest in reading", it says. This will be followed by "Central Connecticut State University puts Indonesia on the 60th place out of 61 countries ranked on World Most Literate Nations". Various media such as Jakarta Post and Kompas referenced this too. Even seemingly progressive alternative media have used it to further their points.

And yet, an entire work day spent trying to look more into the UNESCO stats had led me nowhere. I am not the only one noticing this, Arief Ashar writing for Australia Indonesia Youth Association also found that an exploration of UNESCO's database and a request for the data have both failed to confirm the existence of this very number. Every publication that used the quick bit-sized statistics referenced one article, deplorably published by KOMINFO from which there was no reference to this supposed UNESCO finding, either. Let me say this clearly: this data started and ended with a KOMINFO article and they failed to provide a credible reference for it.

If the statistical improbability did not give you a pause, the fact that an article published in a government site used the assumed credibility of another institution to talk down to us, while failing to do the diligent work of putting appropriate references should do the trick. It is a reminder that the idea of literacy at its most basic level can not be separated from our history and politics. The question of who gets to go to school (from which literacy skills are formally taught and measured), for example, is one of socio-economic conditions shaped by the world of politics. These numbers are not removed from the political implications it is trying to prop. The fact that a widely shared statistic somewhat spread with no proper references is a stark indication that literacy (or the supposed lack of it) can be used to further political agenda.

In the same article insidiously titled "Masyarakat Indonesia, Malas Baca tapi Cerewet di Medsos", KOMINFO predictably used World Most Literate Nation Ranks done by CCSU to continue their point. And while this number refreshingly existed (the bar is in hell, I know), a brief read of their research methodology will give you a new understanding. John Miller—author of World Most Literate Nations report—said, it ranks "literate behaviors and their supporting resources" and quoting from the Washington Post, the ranking looks at "Variables related to tested literacy achievement [...] as well as to literate behavior characteristics. Those include 15 variables grouped in five categories: Libraries, Newspapers, Education System-Inputs, Education System-Outputs and Computer Availability, as well as population, which is used for establishing per capita ratios." Miller noted that Pacific Rim countries would rank higher on tested literacy achievement but adding factors such as library size and accessibility dramatically dropped their ranking.

Understanding how parameters are being set in the research becomes crucial because in knowing what factors are being summed together to reach the ranking, a different conclusion can be drawn from it. Computers and libraries availability for example are problems that require systematic changes. In a 2017-2018 report, The Ministry of Education documented that there are 148.244 of primary schools with only 94.550 libraries available; this amounted to 63,78% library accessibility for early formal education. The numbers are quite identical for other levels of education, too. The lack of libraries in communities is not a mere fact of reality, it is a direct result of policy choices and can only be remedied with other policies set up to counter the failures of the previous one. It has to be said then, that our government might hear the calling of our low literacy rate from inside their own damn house.

The lack of libraries in communities is not a mere fact of reality, it is a direct result of policy choices and can only be remedied with other policies set up to counter the failures of the previous one.

I have to note, this is not meant to be a comprehensive debunk on the statistics. It is a mere nudge to look at it from a different way. We often view numbers as scientific empirical fact that makes it an objective truth. Except that any research is only as good as the questions that are being asked and any assumption we make about it. Learning how a study reached the numbers they have is a crucial part of understanding the information presented to us. I learned that numbers can always be readily co-opted to justify favored results by the one coming up with them, from skincare to the energy sector. It can definitely be purposely misinterpreted by governmental actors to cowardly criticize their own citizen's behavior as if they are not the one stoking (and benefiting from) misinformation to start with.

Not to say that there is no problem with literacy in our country, only that watering it down to rigid numbers feels a cruel oversimplification. In his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire expounded the idea of literacy as a tool to attain freedom and therefore it is within the interests of the ruling class to withhold it from people to limit their ability to understand and change their situation. Freire, who dedicated his life to teaching adults how to read and write, believed that education stands at the heart of social struggles, not unconnected to the fights against oppression we have right now. He believed that we can not address the problem of literacy without addressing the fact that education is an inherently political act. We must not lose sight of the material reality in which literacy is a struggle of power, agency, identity, contexts, theory, and a vision of the future. It is not an easy fight, however I do believe that it is not a place for self-deprecating cynicism, either.

The Supper Book-Cult is one among plenty others that facilitate a gathering centered around fostering love for reading. The event garnered a crowd of 45 people at one point. By the end of the year, it amassed a total of 191 unique attendees, many of which are regular joiners.

Discussion topics vary every month, but one recurring motif of the event is passionate discussion about literature and culture: whether it is a fervent discussion about labor rights or saucy confessions about the most embarrassing book you have read, TSBC have you covered for your literary fancy. This is only an anecdote of course, but there are many other communities like it here in Jakarta and it is only growing. This trend once again, should give us a pause to reconsider the probability of the statistics we have been told about us and our literate behaviors.

One recurring motif of the event is passionate discussion about literature and culture: whether it is a fervent discussion about labor rights or saucy confessions about the most embarrassing book you have read, TSBC have you covered for your literary fancy.

Precisely because literacy is a problem to be solved through systemic reforms, the call for it should be one for the masses and from the masses, not from the faux sympathy of a ruling oppressive government. It should not be reduced to a few self-defeating sentiments to seemingly just accept our material condition as it is. Rather the call for literacy should be one to criticize and address the structural problems that allow these conditions to persist. In the words of Paulo Freire, literacy should become "the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in their transformation of their world." The call for literacy should then be a liberatory call to reconstruct our world into a better one.

Unlike KOMINFO, I actually know how to list my sources.