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

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212 / CHAPTER 8
2
Education for All Global Monitoring Report
In less than two
centuries, the
nature and social
functions of
literacy have
changed
dramatically
Table 8.3 shows that, while the South Coast
region of Papua New Guinea has a higher literacy
rate than the North Coast region, it has a lower
level in terms of its effective literacy rate.
Rarely do studies examine the distribution of
literate individuals across households. In a case
where individuals with basic literacy skills are
evenly distributed across households, the
percentage of households with access to literacy
skills could reach 100%, even though the
individual-level literacy might be much lower.
On the other hand, in a case where literate
individuals are ‘perfectly concentrated’ within
households, and all household sizes are the
same, the percentage of households with literate
members would be equal to the percentage of
individuals who are literate. A percentage of
households with any literate member that is only
a little higher than the percentage of literate
individuals would suggest a high degree of
concentration of literacy within households and
poor ‘spread’ of literacy over the population.
It would be valuable to know both the causes
and the effects of such concentration. 38
Table 8.3: Reported and effective adult literacy in Papua New Guinea, 1996
Region
National Capital District
New Guinea Islands
South Coast (Papua)
North Coast
Highlands
Papua New Guinea
Literates
% of adult population who are:
Proximate
illiterates
Isolated
illiterates
Gender gap
in literacy
Effective adult
literacy rate
(%)
85.8 12.1 2.1 5.3 95.0
77.7 15.2 7.1 5.8 89.3
59.0 23.4 17.6 15.8 76.7
56.3 28.6 15.1 25.1 78.0
34.6 37.7 27.7 17.8 63.2
51.9 29.1 19.0 18.2 74.0
Conclusion
In less than two centuries, the nature and social
functions of literacy have changed dramatically:
from a means of understanding religious precepts
and selecting military recruits to an essential
building block of information processing and
worker productivity; from a specialized tool of
merchants, administrators and professionals to
a vital instrument for cultural intercourse and
global commerce; and from a way of enforcing
legal contracts and determining voter rights to a
basis for linking individuals and families to public
institutions and international networks. Literacy
today has become essential.
The expansion of formal schooling was the
single most significant factor in past transitions
to widespread literacy. For social, cultural and
economic reasons, these transitions occurred
earliest in Western Europe and North America.
More recently, organized literacy campaigns and
increased opportunities for adult learning and
education (e.g. in Latin America, Africa and Asia)
were two additional factors, which, together with
school expansion, contributed to rising literacy
rates. On the other hand, protracted political
conflict and acute economic decline have resulted
in stagnating literacy rates; and exclusion and
discrimination continue to contribute to pockets
of illiteracy, even within developed countries.
Source: The 1996 Papua New Guinea Household Survey, cited in Gibson (2001).
Estimates are for the population aged 15 years and older.
38. This discussion
benefited from comments
by Julie Schaffner.