Out of 270 million Arab people, some 67 million stepped into the twenty-first century without being able to read or write. More political will and public debate on the region's efforts to abolish literacy are needed.
Today 40 per cent of adults in the Arab region are illiterate. And projections show that if current efforts continue, 28 per cent of the region's population will still be illiterate in 2015.
But the situation varies significantly between countries. The greatest numbers of illiterates are in five countries: Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, and Yemen where roughly 49 of the 67 million illiterate adults live. This constitutes 73 per cent of all illiterates in the twenty-two Arab countries. Ten Arab countries, namely Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Mauritania account for only 3.6 million illiterates.
What is more alarming is that the rates of illiteracy among women, youth, and the underprivileged sectors of society are even higher, particularly in rural regions. In Yemen, for example, 54 per cent of the country’s 9 million people are illiterate and the figure increases to about 90 per cent among women and 76 per cent among men in rural areas, according to the National Committee for Literacy.
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8521&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Today 40 per cent of adults in the Arab region are illiterate. And projections show that if current efforts continue, 28 per cent of the region's population will still be illiterate in 2015.
But the situation varies significantly between countries. The greatest numbers of illiterates are in five countries: Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, and Yemen where roughly 49 of the 67 million illiterate adults live. This constitutes 73 per cent of all illiterates in the twenty-two Arab countries. Ten Arab countries, namely Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Mauritania account for only 3.6 million illiterates.
What is more alarming is that the rates of illiteracy among women, youth, and the underprivileged sectors of society are even higher, particularly in rural regions. In Yemen, for example, 54 per cent of the country’s 9 million people are illiterate and the figure increases to about 90 per cent among women and 76 per cent among men in rural areas, according to the National Committee for Literacy.
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8521&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html