7.5 million Germans are functional illiterates, report says

Despite being a powerful and wealthy country in the European Union, Germany has been found to suffer from illiteracy, with 7.5 million in the country considered "functionally illiterate," the Zeit Online reported on Monday. 60 percent of all functional illiterates are men, the report also suggested. A functional illiterate person can read and write letters, words and single sentences, but has trouble understanding a longer cohesive text.

UNESCO defines functional literacy as: "A person who is functionally literate can engage in all activities where literacy is required for effective functioning of his group and community. It also for enables him to continue using reading, writing and calculation for his own, and the community's, development."

In the next ten years, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research plans to promote special learning opportunities for adults, along with other projects, with a 180 million euros ($190.79 million) of funding. Those who do not master the cultural techniques of reading and writing "do not only disadvantage themselves," said Johanna Wanka (CDU), the Federal Minister of Education.

As Germany struggles with growing illiteracy in the country, Markus Fels, spokesman for the Ministry of Education and Research, stated that the German government and the 16 individual federal states announced a 10-year, 180-million-euro program, called the Decade of Alphabetization, to combat illiteracy in 2015.

It is necessary to have more scientifically-based insights in order to work effectively against illiteracy with "appropriate learning opportunities," said Bremen's education minister Claudia Bogedan (SPD), the President of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.