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

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Education for All Global Monitoring Report
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In other areas, the growing provision of public and
private instruction, administered by centralizing
nation-states or religious organizations,
contributed to the spread of literacy. Among early
industrializing countries, the transition to
widespread literacy was a gradual process
spanning centuries; among late industrializing
countries the spread of literacy came later but at
a more rapid pace. The literacy gaps between
early and late industrializers only began to close
during the twentieth century, with growing
popular demand for, and increased public supply
of, literacy (Mitch, 1992).
Africa, Asia, Latin America
and the Arab States
Historical information about literacy trends in
other world regions, many of them under colonial
rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is
Figure 8.1: Trends in literacy rates in developing countries, 1900—1950
Literacy rate (%)
Argentina
Brazil
Burma (Myanmar)
Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Chile
Colombia
Cuba*
Egypt
Honduras
India
Mexico
Philippines
Union of South Africa
(native pop. only)**
Turkey
limited. Population censuses – a major source
of literacy data – were usually conducted in the
wake of national independence (Barrett and
Frank, 1999), and few were carried out in the
territories of European empires. Consequently,
historical literacy data are available for only
certain parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East,
though rather more widely for Latin America.
Trends in adult literacy rates for 1900–1950,
based on census figures compiled by UNESCO
(1953, 1957), are reported in Figure 8.1. 6 A few
countries (Argentina, Chile and Cuba) had literacy
levels between 35% and 45% at the start of the
twentieth century, which steadily increased during
the next five decades. Others (Brazil, Ceylon
[Sri Lanka], Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines
and Turkey) had lower levels (20% to 35%) prior
to the First World War, which rose modestly in
the interwar period. In most other developing
countries, the pace of change was slow: in Burma
(Myanmar) and Honduras, literacy rates rose
slightly in the interwar period; in Egypt, India
and the Union of South Africa, literacy levels
were very low and progress was minimal.
Moreover, rising literacy rates during
1900–1950 did not necessarily reduce the illiterate
population. In many cases, modest increases in
literacy levels (less than 10% over ten years),
together with strong population growth, actually
resulted in increases in the number of illiterates. 7
Outcomes were mixed among countries reporting
moderate progress in literacy rates. For example,
while the adult literacy rate rose from 47% to 65%
in Argentina between 1895 and 1914, the number
of illiterates increased by over 450,000 during the
same period. Only in countries where literacy
rates increased significantly (i.e. by at least 25%),
did the number of illiterates decline. 8
By 1950, a more complete assessment of
regional and national differences in adult literacy
rates was possible. Figure 8.2, which presents
UNESCO (1957) compilations of adult literacy rates,
shows that many countries had made great strides
by mid-century. Argentina, Barbados, British
Guiana (Guyana), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Chile, Costa
0
1890
1900
1910
Note: For Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the adult population is defined as 5 years or older; for Burma (Myanmar), Chile,
Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey and the Union of South Africa, it is defined as 10 years
or older; for Argentina, Brazil and Honduras, it is defined as 15 years or older.
* In the 1899, 1907 and 1919 censuses, all persons aged 10 and older who attended school were counted as among
the literate population.
** The literacy rate of the adult white population was about 95% in 1904 and 98% in 1918.
Source: UNESCO (1957).
1920
1930
1940
1950
6. Because of a lack of historical census data, many countries with
large illiterate populations (e.g. China) are excluded from this figure.
In addition, caution is warranted when comparing literacy rates across
countries, given different operational definitions of the adult population
and of literacy.
7. This was true in Brazil, Burma, Ceylon, Chile, Colombia, Cuba,
Egypt, Honduras, India, Mexico, Portugal and the majority population
of the Union of South Africa.
8. Examples include Chile and Cuba, as well as (in Europe) Belgium,
Bulgaria, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy and Spain, and (in North
America) Canada and the United States.