people and planet

15
In Tanzania, adult
Maasai women learn
basic Swahili literacy
skills, business skills,
HIV education and
land rights through
USAID programmes.
CREDIT: Megan Johnson/USAID
KEY MESSAGES
There are challenges in monitoring adult participation in literacy programmes because of the diversity of
providers. Surveys of adults can be a more reliable source of information than governments.
New analysis shows that over 2004–2011, 6% of adults aged 15 to 49 in 29 poorer countries had ever participated
in a literacy programme. Most of those were male and from richer households, even though the majority of
illiterate adults were female and poor.
The SDG agenda shifts attention from a concept of literacy in which someone is literate or not to a more
nuanced concept of how proficient they are in literacy skills along a continuum.
In the absence of data on literacy proficiency levels, reporting based on traditional rates continues. Over 2005–
2014, some 758 million adults, almost two-thirds of them women, lacked any literacy skills.
A better picture of literacy challenges can be found by directly assessing skills, as is the case in many high
income countries. Among adults who participated in an OECD assessment, 15% did not have basic literacy skills.
International collaboration is needed to help conduct more international literacy and numeracy assessments by
2030. A successful approach should balance the ability of a country to proceed on its own against the need for
its assessment to meet global quality standards.
274
CHAPTER 15 | TARGET 4.6 – LITERACY AND NUMERACY