noun
Formal term for the inability to read or write. Often used in social or educational contexts.
非識字率の低下は重要な社会目標だ。
Reducing the illiteracy rate is an important social goal.
その地域では非識字が依然として問題になっている。
Illiteracy remains a problem in that region.
識字 means literacy, the opposite of 非識字.
Compound of 非 (hi, 'non-') and 識字 (shikiji, 'literacy'). The term is a modern coinage used in formal and academic contexts.