Chapter 2. Progress towards the EFA goals - Unesco

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0 0 1 CHAPTER 2 2 Education for All Global Monitoring Report Burkina Faso and Chad have respectively doubled and almost tripled their literacy rates Figure 2.31: The number of adult illiterates is falling despite population growth Changes in adult (15 and over) illiterates, literacy rates and population, by region, 1985–1994 and 2000–2007 1 -70 World Developing countries Developed countries Countries in transition Sub-Saharan Africa Arab States Central Asia East Asia and the Pacific South and West Asia Latin America and the Caribbean North America and Western Europe Central and Eastern Europe -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Per cent change, 1985-1994 and 2000-2007 Adult illiterates Adult population Literacy rates 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. For countries with UIS estimates, the populations used are for 1994 and 2007. 1. Data are for the most recent year available during each period specified. Source: Annex, Statistical Table 2. 31 The gender parity index (GPI) declined in Ecuador, Ethiopia and Zambia. In Botswana, the GPI improved from 1.09 to 1.00. Gender parity had already been achieved in 1985-1994 in the Maldives, Panama, Seychelles and Uruguay, and was maintained in 2000–2007 (Annex, Statistical Table 2). With the world’s largest illiterate population, India has been making progress. In 1985–1994 not quite half of adults were literate. The figure is now slightly above two-thirds. Since the adult population increased by 45%, this marks a real advance. It also suggests that the country’s Total Literacy Campaign, under the Auspices of the National Literacy Mission, may be having an impact (India Ministry of Human Resource Development and National University of Educational Planning and Administration, 2008). Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have achieved steep rises in adult literacy rates. Burkina Faso and Chad, with some of the world’s lowest literacy rates, have respectively doubled and almost tripled their rates. Several Arab states have achieved major advances. Egypt’s adult literacy rate has increased from 44% to 66%. Yemen has increased the adult literacy rate from 37% to 59%. Gender parity is improving Rising literacy has been accompanied by declining gender disparities. Many countries that started with very large gaps between male and female literacy, and from low overall levels, have been on a pathway towards parity. Gender parity improved in all but eight of the seventy-nine countries with data. 31 In Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Malawi, Nepal and Yemen, female adult literacy rates doubled or 98
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE EFA GOALS Youth and adult literacy tripled, and have increased twice as fast as male rates. Because adult literacy gaps track developments in basic education, this catching up process mirrors a narrowing of the gender gap in basic education. Between the two benchmark periods, the number of adult female literates increased by 14%, compared with 7% for adult males (see annex, Statistical Table 2). This positive trend has to be placed in context. Women may be catching up, but in many countries they are starting from a long way back. Gender disparities remain very deep – and the share of women in the total number of illiterates has increased slightly. The process of convergence is thus starting from very unequal points (Figure 2.32). In the three regions with the lowest levels of literacy and largest gender disparities – the Arab states, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa – female adult literacy rates for 2000–2007 were still below the average for male literacy in 1985–1994. On the current trajectory, it will take women in South and West Asia about fifty-six years to catch up. Gender convergence in adult literacy is proceeding at different rates in different countries. Compare the contrasting experiences of Bangladesh and India. Women aged 25 to 34 in Bangladesh have illiteracy rates 32% higher than men in the same age group. The gap reflects gender disparities that prevailed in the education system when that generation went to school. For 15- to 24-year-olds in Bangladesh today the gender gap has been eliminated. While India has been narrowing the gap, 15- to 24-year-old females are still about twice as likely to be illiterate as males in that group. Among the Arab states, Morocco has been making rapid progress towards improved literacy with every school generation but has been less successful in closing the gender gap, as comparison with China underlines (Figure 2.33). Improvement in access to education across generations is one of the motors driving increased literacy levels. In almost all countries, literacy rates among younger adults (15 to 24) are higher than the average for all adults (15 and over). In the Arab States, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, youth literacy rates in 2000–2007 were 16% to 24% higher than the average for all adults (see annex, Statistical Table 2). Age-group disparities are particularly marked in some countries, including Botswana, Eritrea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, where the proportion of illiterates among all adults is double or more the proportion for younger adults. Figure 2.32: Being so far behind, women have further to travel to reach male literacy rates Adult (15 and over) literacy rates, by region and gender, 1985–1994 and 2000–2007 1 World Developing countries Developed countries Countries in transition Sub-Saharan Africa Arab States Central Asia East Asia and the Pacific South and West Asia Latin America/Caribbean Central/Eastern Europe N. America/W. Europe 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Adult literacy rates (%) Female 1985-1994 Female 2000-2007 Male 1985-1994 Male 2000-2007 1. Data are for the most recent year available during each period specified. Source: Annex, Statistical Table 2. Illiteracy mirrors wider disadvantages National data on literacy can provide insights into the average picture for a country while obscuring disparities within countries, where adult illiteracy may intersect with income, parental education, ethnicity, language and disability. While women are systematically disadvantaged, gender disparities are magnified by wider structures of disadvantage and marginalization. Low income. Adults from the poorest households are far more likely to be illiterate. In Guatemala, 60% of adults living in extreme poverty and 42% of those living in non-extreme poverty are illiterate, compared with 17% of richer adults (Porta Pallais and Laguna, 2007). Similarly, the literacy rate for the richest Bangladeshi households is 76%, compared with 28% for the poorest (Bangladesh Ministry of Planning and UNESCO Bangladesh, 2008). Ethnicity, language and group-based disadvantage. Minority language groups and indigenous people often register far lower levels of literacy. In Viet Nam, the literacy rate is 94% among the majority Kinh population, but only 72% for ethnic minorities (Daswani, 2005). In Peru, illiteracy is much more prevalent among On the current trajectory, it will take women in South and West Asia about fifty-six years to catch up with men 99
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Chapter 2. Progress towards the EFA goals - Unesco

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