Chapter 2. Progress towards the EFA goals - Unesco

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0 1 0 CHAPTER 2 2 Education for All Global Monitoring Report Literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals 30. The target of achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy is measured by looking at the illiteracy rate, reflecting the original formulation of the goal as expressed in Jomtien in 1990. The adult illiteracy rate is computed by deducting the adult literacy rate from 100. Youth and adult literacy Goal 4: Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults. Youth and adult illiteracy is the price people and countries are paying for the past failures of education systems. When people emerge from their school years lacking basic reading, writing and numeracy skills, they face a lifetime of disadvantage as illiteracy diminishes their social and economic prospects and damages self-esteem. But the consequences of illiteracy extend beyond the individual. When people lack literacy, society as a whole suffers from lost opportunities for higher productivity, shared prosperity and political participation (Fasih, 2008; Kinsella and He, 2009; UIS, 2008a; UNESCO, 2005). Beyond the individual and social costs, illiteracy is a violation of human rights and a global blight on the human condition (Maddox, 2008; Oxenham, 2008). Eradicating it is one of the most urgent development challenges of the twenty-first century. The international community has failed to rise to the challenge. At the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000, governments pledged to achieve a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015. The pledge was ambitious, but the target was achievable. Unfortunately, the goal will be missed by a large margin. In a world with 759 million illiterate young people and adults, there has been a conspicuous lack of urgency and commitment to literacy on the part of political leaders. The many exceptions to the rule serve to demonstrate that far more could have been achieved – and that far more can be done to get closer to the 2015 target. Among the key messages of this section: Literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals. Progress towards the 2015 target of halving illiteracy 30 has been far too slow and uneven. With half the period for achieving the target having elapsed, the regions farthest behind have travelled between a half and two-thirds of the distance required. On current trends, there will be 710 million illiterate adults worldwide in 2015. The evidence from monitoring is clear: unless far more is done to accelerate progress, the 2015 targets will not be reached. More rapid progress remains possible. Several countries have demonstrated through successful policies that more rapid advance towards adult literacy is possible. The National Literacy Mission in India and the Literate Brazil Programme (Programa Brasil Alfabetizado) both reflect a stronger commitment to literacy by political leaders. Several countries have developed highly innovative programmes through partnerships linking communities to governments and non-government groups. Better financing and a renewed effort to reach older adults are critical to accelerated progress. Far more has to be done to overcome the legacy of disadvantage in literacy. While gender gaps are narrowing, they remain very large – women still account for nearly two-thirds of the world’s adult illiterates. Failure to tackle gender disparities and wider inequalities based on wealth, region, ethnicity and language are holding back progress. This section is divided into two parts. Part 1 provides a global overview of literacy and a post- Dakar progress report. It also looks ahead to 2015, providing a projection of where current trends will leave the world in relation to the goal of achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy. Part 2 looks at some of the countries that are making progress and identifies approaches that are making a difference. Progress since the Dakar forum The precise meaning of ‘literacy’ continues to be subject to intense academic debate (Benavot, 2008; Fransman, 2005). Unlike the simple dichotomies used in other areas – such as being ‘in school’ or ‘out of school’ – there are no clear-cut dividing lines between the literate and non-literate. In any society, there is a continuum of literacy – and people with a fragile hold on literacy in youth can lose that hold in adulthood. However, academic debates over the precise meaning of the word should not detract from common-sense depictions of what the experience of illiteracy means to those affected. Half a century ago, UNESCO defined a literate person as someone ‘who can with understanding both read and write a short simple statement on his or her everyday life’ (UNESCO, 1958, p. 3). More recently, the Global Campaign for Education has extended this basic idea: ‘Literacy is about the acquisition and use of reading, writing and 94
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE EFA GOALS Youth and adult literacy numeracy skills, and thereby the development of active citizenship, improved health and livelihoods and gender equality’ (Global Campaign for Education and ActionAid International, 2005, p.13). A combination of these two broad definitions captures the reality of illiteracy as a condition that denies people opportunity. The condition affects much of the world’s youth and adult population, especially women in developing countries. While all regions are affected, a relatively small group of countries with large populations dominates the global illiteracy headcount. The illiteracy scourge continues An estimated 759 million adults – around 16% of the world’s population aged 15 and over – lack the basic reading, writing and numeracy skills needed in everyday life (Table 2.6). More than half live in South and West Asia, and another one-fifth in sub-Saharan Africa. Reflecting the legacy of gender disparity in education, almost two in every three adult illiterates are female (see annex, Statistical Table 2). Measured in aggregate terms, adult illiterates are heavily concentrated in a small group of largepopulation countries (Figure 2.29). Just twenty countries account for around 80% of global illiterates, with Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan making up over half the total. The data in this section highlight the concentration of illiteracy in developing countries. This should not deflect attention from the serious problems in rich countries, where large pockets of illiteracy contribute to wider patterns of social and economic marginalization (Box 2.19). Aggregate figures mask differences in the incidence of illiteracy. Both South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa have high illiteracy rates, with more than one in three adults affected in both regions (Table 2.6). In sub-Saharan Africa, twelve countries have illiteracy rates in excess of 50%; among these, in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and the Niger, more than 70% of the adult population is illiterate (Figure 2.30). In the Arab States, the proportion is nearly one-third. Gender disparities are a major contributor to the high adult illiteracy rates in all three regions (see annex, Statistical Table 2). For instance: Table 2.6: Adult (15 and over) illiteracy rates and numbers, by region, 2000–2007 1 World Illiteracy rates (%) 2 Illiterates (millions) 16 759 Figure 2.29: Adult illiteracy is heavily concentrated in a small group of large-population countries Adult (15 and over) illiterates (millions), top ten countries Rest of the world, 218 Developing countries Developed countries Countries in transition Sub-Saharan Africa Arab States Central Asia East Asia and the Pacific East Asia Pacific South and West Asia Latin America and the Caribbean Caribbean Latin America North America and Western Europe Central and Eastern Europe 20 752 0.7 5 0.6 1 38 153 29 58 1 0.7 7 108 7 106 7 2 36 391 9 36 25 3 9 33 0.6 4 2 8 Morocco, 10 Indonesia, 13 Brazil, 14 Egypt, 17 Nigeria, 23 Ethiopia, 27 Pakistan, 47 Bangladesh, 49 China, 71 India, 270 About 759 million adults lack the basic reading, writing and numeracy skills needed in everyday life Notes: The population used to generate the number of illiterates is from the United Nations Population Division estimates (2006 revision). For countries with national observed literacy data, the population used corresponds to the year of the census or survey. 1. Data are for the most recent year available during the period specified. See the web version of the introduction to the statistical tables for a broader explanation of national literacy definitions, assessment methods, and sources and years of data. 2. The illiteracy rate is calculated as 100 minus the literacy rate. Source: Annex, Statistical Table 2. 95
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