Education and development the issues and the evidence - Education Research Paper No. 06,
1993, 61 p.
[Previous Page] [Table of Contents] [Next Page]
2.7 Literacy
2.7.1 Definitional issues
2.7.2 Literacy and development
2.7.3 Literacy and language
2.7.4 Strategies to promote literacy
2.7.5 Concluding remarks.
Mass literacy has long been argued to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for sustained
development to take place and there is an extensive literature on the problems of increasing
literacy rates. Bhola (1990) lists 46 books on literacy published between 1980 and 1989. The
world now has almost one billion adult illiterates and over 95% of these are to be found in
developing countries. Disproportionate numbers of illiterates are female, from poor
households, and members of minority groups within their own countries. In absolute numbers
China and India have the most illiterates as a result of their very large populations. Profiles of
illiteracy rates by age group and sex have proved slow to change over time though overall
levels of literacy have improved considerably.
Table 6 Estimated Adult Literacy Rates by Sex 1970-2000 (percentages)
|
Male |
Female |
Total | ||||||||||
|
1970 |
1985 |
1990 |
2000 |
1970 |
1985 |
1990 |
2000 |
1970 |
1985 |
1990 |
2000 | |
|
World |
69.6 |
78.1 |
80.6 |
84.6 |
53.5 |
63.1 |
66.4 |
71.8 |
61.5 |
70.6 |
73.5 |
78.2 |
|
Developing |
57.8 |
71.1 |
74.9 |
80.3 |
32.6 |
49.9 |
55.0 |
63.2 |
45.3 |
60.7 |
65.1 |
71.9 |
|
Sub Saharan Africa |
32.5 |
52.6 |
59.0 |
70.2 |
13.2 |
29.5 |
36.1 |
49.6 |
22.6 |
40.8 |
47.3 |
59.7 |
|
Arab States |
39.5 |
59.2 |
64.3 |
73 1 |
13.7 |
31.5 |
38.0 |
50.6 |
26.5 |
45.5 |
51.3 |
62.0 |
|
Latin America/Caribbean |
77.5 |
84.3 |
86.4 |
89.7 |
70.1 |
80.3 |
83.0 |
87.3 |
73.8 |
82.3 |
84.7 |
88.5 |
|
Eastern Asia |
67.3 |
82.0 |
85.7 |
90.0 |
38.7 |
60.7 |
66.4 |
75.4 |
53 2 |
71.5 |
76.2 |
82.8 |
|
Southern Asia |
44.8 |
55.6 |
59.1 |
66.2 |
16.9 |
27.9 |
32.2 |
41.2 |
31.3 |
42.2 |
46.1 |
54.1 |
More intriguing information
1. RETAIL SALES: DO THEY MEAN REDUCED EXPENDITURES? GERMAN GROCERY EVIDENCE2. Better policy analysis with better data. Constructing a Social Accounting Matrix from the European System of National Accounts.
3. The name is absent
4. I nnovative Surgical Technique in the Management of Vallecular Cyst
5. ENERGY-RELATED INPUT DEMAND BY CROP PRODUCERS
6. A Principal Components Approach to Cross-Section Dependence in Panels
7. The name is absent
8. PROJECTED COSTS FOR SELECTED LOUISIANA VEGETABLE CROPS - 1997 SEASON
9. La mobilité de la main-d'œuvre en Europe : le rôle des caractéristiques individuelles et de l'hétérogénéité entre pays
10. The Impact of Individual Investment Behavior for Retirement Welfare: Evidence from the United States and Germany