Currently, illiteracy is seen as both a global and local issue. According to a 2011 report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the worldwide adult literacy rate is 83.7%. This means that 793.1 million people worldwide are illiterate. The youth literacy rate is listed at 89.3% (UNESCO 2011). Worldwide 127.3 million youth are considered illiterate and do not know how to read or write.
In addition, based on data collected from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United States is currently ranked 45th in terms of their literacy rate (UNDP 2009). The country of Georgia is currently ranked first with a literacy rate of 100%. Other high ranked countries include Cuba, Estonia, Latvia, and Barbados. While the United States is listed with a literacy rate of 99%, it is important to note that this a figure used based on our country’s status as a developed nation because no data was actually collected by the UNDP. Current Census estimates could have United States literacy rates in the 80% range. More detailed research needs to be done to determine a better estimate of the literacy rate in our country.
The data also brings up interesting questions for further research. How can other countries emulate Georgia and other countries with high literacy rates? What methods are utilized by these countries?
3. UNESCO (2011). Adult and youth literacy. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. URL: http://www.uis.unesco.org/FactSheets/Documents/FS16-2011-Literacy-EN.pdf
4. UNDP (2009). Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development. URL: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment