Adult and youth literacy in 2009

8 September was International Literacy Day. On this occasion, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) released a fact sheet with estimates of adult and youth literacy in 2009, the most recent year with data.

Theglobal adult literacy rate, for the population 15 years and older, was83.7% in 2009, compared to 83.4% in 2008. The adult illiteratepopulation fell from 796.2 million in 2008 to 793.1 million in 2009.64.1% of the adult illiterate population were women. Adult literacyrates are lowest in sub-Saharan African and in South and WestAsia (see Figure 1). In 11 countries, less than half of the adultpopulation were able to read and write: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad,Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Haiti, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Figure 1: Adult literacy rate, 2009

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2011

Youth literacy rates - for the population 15 to 24 years - aregenerally higher than adult literacy rates, due to increased school attendance rates amongyounger generations. The global youth literacy rate was 89.3% in 2009,compared to 89.0% in 2008. The youth illiterate population fell from130.6 million in 2008 to 127.3 million in 2009. Youth literacy rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa(see Figure 2) and the five countries worldwide with youth literacy rates below 50%are from this region: Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and Niger.

Figure 2: Youth literacy rate, 2009

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2011

Reference

• UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2011. Adult and youth literacy. UIS fact sheet no. 16, September. Montreal: UIS. (Download in PDF format, 350 KB)

Related articles

• Trends in adult literacy, 1990-2008
• Literacy data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics
• Adult literacy in 2007
• Disparity between male and female literacy rates
• Disparity between adult and youth literacy
• Adult literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa

External links

• International Literacy Day (UNESCO)
• Literacy data (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)

Friedrich Huebler, 30 September 2011, Creative Commons License
Permanent URL: http://huebler.blogspot.com/2011/09/literacy.html

Court Upholds Students Come First

In a ruling released today, the Students Come First laws were upheld in Idaho district court.

“I am pleased the court rejected the union’s lawsuit to overturn portions of Students Come First. Through this legislation, we phased out tenure, eliminated early retirement bonuses, and returned decision-making back to locally elected school boards. We will continue to move forward in implementing the Students Come First reform efforts that have already begun improving public education for all students across Idaho,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said. 

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter said, “The Legislature did the right thing, and now so has Judge Hansen. That’s welcome news. But we recognize this issue and the fate of Students Come First will remain in the courts – including the court of public opinion. Superintendent Luna and I are confident that Idaho citizens understand what’s at stake.  What’s important today is that these necessary and responsible reforms are continuing to move forward.”

The Idaho Education Association filed suit against portions of the Students Come First laws in April, and Judge Timothy Hansen heard the case in August.  Today, he ruled in favor of the Students Come First laws.

The Students Come First laws are historic education reforms that will make every Idaho classroom a 21st Century Classroom, ensure every student has access to a highly effective teacher every year in school, and give parents immediate access to understandable information about their child’s school and district.