literacy for life; EFA global monitoring report, 2006 - Institut de ...

Education for All Global Monitoring Report
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Chapter 8
The making of
literate societies
In the mid-nineteenth century, only 10%
of the world’s adult population could read or
write. At the dawn of the twenty-first century,
UNESCO estimates that over 80% of adults
worldwide can read and write at some minimum
level. This unprecedented social transformation
occurred despite the world’s population quintupling
from about 1.2 billion in 1850 to over 6.4 billion today.
The transition to widespread literacy was not uniform
across societies, as the historical overview in this chapter
shows. The spread of formal schooling, well-organized literacy
campaigns and expanded adult learning opportunities have all
played a role. The broader social context is equally important: the
motivations for acquiring literacy, and the ability to sustain it, are
closely related to the literate environments found at home, at work and in
society more generally. The social character of literacy is revealed in the variety
of ways — and languages — in which it is practised. Literacy today, in its many
manifestations, has become a vital set of competencies and practices, interwoven
in the fabric of contemporary societies.
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