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The importance of literacy for rural seniors in the Republic of Korea: An investigation of its effect on social inclusion and mental health

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Abstract

This study examined the association between literacy and quality of life among rural seniors in the Republic of Korea. A sample of rural seniors (N = 1,000) was surveyed by the Korea Rural Economic Institute in 2018, which assessed their literacy levels, their lifelong literacy education status and their quality of life. The authors’ analyses of the data collected in this survey reveal that higher literacy levels are positively associated with a greater likelihood of social inclusion and better mental health status among rural seniors. Furthermore, seniors with functional literacy demonstrated a higher probability of being included in the rural community compared to those with only basic literacy. Lastly, lifelong literacy education was found to play a crucial role in enhancing the literacy levels of rural seniors. As a policy recommendation, the authors suggest that local governments expand literacy education programmes to more rural areas of South Korea.

Résumé

L’importance de l’alphabétisation pour les seniors dans les zones rurales en Corée du Sud : une enquête concernant ses effets sur l’inclusion sociale et la santé mentale – Cette étude se penche sur le lien entre alphabétisation et qualité de vie pour les seniors dans les zones rurales en Corée du Sud. Une enquête a été menée en 2018 par l’Institut d’économie rurale de Corée sur un échantillon de seniors (N = 1 000) pour évaluer leur degré d’alphabétisation, leur situation en matière d’éducation tout au long de la vie et leur qualité de vie. Les analyses réalisées par les auteurs au sujet des données collectées dans ce cadre révèlent que les seniors des zones rurales avec un degré d’alphabétisation plus élevé ont plus de chances d’être inclus socialement et de jouir d’une meilleure santé mentale. En outre, elles montrent que, par rapport aux seniors avec un niveau de base, il est plus probable que ceux disposant d’un degré d’alphabétisation fonctionnel, soient inclus dans les communautés rurales. Enfin, l’étude indique que l’éducation tout au long de la vie joue un rôle décisif pour améliorer le degré d’alphabétisation des seniors dans les zones rurales. Les auteurs recommandent sur le plan politique que les collectivités locales étendent les programmes d’alphabétisation à davantage de zones rurales en Corée du Sud.

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Notes

  1. While being aware that the literate–illiterate dichotomy is rejected by some scholars in favour of a continuum from low to high literacy (see for example Hanemann and Robinson 2022), our use of the term “illiteracy” throughout this article refers to no and very low literacy.

  2. In rural South Korea, each county (gun 군/郡) has regional administrative towns (eup 읍/邑) and a number of townships (myeon 면/面), which are subdivided into villages (ri 리/里).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Korea Rural Economic Institute, Naju-si, Republic of Korea

    Sangjin Ma

  2. Pusan National University, Miryang, Republic of Korea

    Namhoon Kim

  3. Daegu University, Gyeongsan-si, Republic of Korea

    Sok An

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Ma, S., Kim, N. & An, S. The importance of literacy for rural seniors in the Republic of Korea: An investigation of its effect on social inclusion and mental health. Int Rev Educ 70, 143–162 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-023-10042-w

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