It is never too late to learn, but timing is crucial for education. Many countries prioritise youth education, but spending money on providing the basic level of education to adults is vital. I disagree with this statement to a large extent because providing only reading and writing skills to adults cannot have much positive impact, and adults cannot pay full attention to studies at this stage of life. But they can become self-depended for some works.

Learning only reading and writing by adults cannot make them eligible for high-paying jobs. It is an era of computers, robots and technology. To get a good job, people should be highly skilled. They should have certifications from multinational companies. Apart from that, they must possess some high-level degrees. It is because nowadays, even non-technical graduates are unemployed. If adults learn only how to read and write, it cannot bring any significant change in their professional lives. There will not be any change or elevation in their career. So, the government should not spend money on adult education as it might only be a waste of funds.

Adults may lack the attention and willingness to learn new things, unlike children. Adulthood is the period of life when people have several responsibilities. They have to care for their parents, children and spouses, which stops them from devoting time to learning. Moreover, the attention span of adults is not on par with youngsters’ focus. A study, for instance, published in the journal “Age and Attention”, shows that the human brain focus starts diminishing by 0.67 per cent every subsequent year after the age of 25 years. So adults cannot pay as much attention to their education as youngsters. Consequently, money spent by the government on adult education might not yield the desired results.

However, providing adults with reading and writing skills can make them self-reliant for some purposes. An illiterate person cannot communicate by writing and never understand what is written, even in their mother tongue. They have to go to educated people to read letters and messages for them. Also, when they go to the bank, government offices or any other organisation, and if they have to write something, they seek the help of others. This dependence sometimes causes delays in getting services. But if adults can read and write, they do not require any help. Furthermore, They can improve their lives by reading books and newspapers and learning about the world around them.

In conclusion, educating youths have minuscule effects on their professional life because learning reading and writing cannot make them capable of getting white-collar jobs. Also, in adulthood, people have many obligations that stop them from focusing on education. So the government should not spend money on educating adults, and it is better to spend money on youngsters, who are dedicated learners at this stage of life. The only benefit adults can get by learning reading and writing is self-reliance for some limited purposes. Therefore, I disagree more with this statement.