Education and development the issues and the evidence - Education Research Paper No. 06,
1993, 61 p.
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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 |