Literacy The State of Education Series March 2013 A Global Report

Summary This presentation is divided into two sections: n Youth Literacy Rates n Adult Literacy Rates It includes detailed analysis of literacy rates by regions and by genders.

Acronym Guide

Youth Literacy

Have youth literacy rates improved over time? n Global youth literacy rates have improved from 83.3% ( ) to 89.6% ( ) or 6.3 percentage points. n Still, around 10% of youth emerge from education systems around the world without basic literacy skills. n All regions showed improvement in youth literacy rates over time. n SAS showed the most dramatic improvement from 58% to 79.5% -- a 21 percentage point improvement. (continued on next slide) Youth literacy rates have been increasing in all regions over time.

n ECA has consistently had the highest youth literacy rate ranging from 98-99%. n Over time, EAP has almost caught up to ECA’s high youth literacy levels and LAC trails closely behind. More than 97% of youth are literate in these regions. n More 25% of youth are illiterate in SSA, but this is a 6 percentage point improvement over Have youth literacy rates improved over time? (continued) Youth literacy rates have been increasing in all regions over time.

Which countries have the lowest youth literacy rates? n Less than half of youth are literate in Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad. n All of the countries with the lowest literacy rates are in SSA. n Of the 142 countries with data, 22 countries have youth literacy rates less than 75%. All are in SSA except for Pakistan, Haiti, and Papua New Guinea. n 89 countries have youth literacy rates higher than 95%.

Which countries have increased youth literacy rates the most over time? n These countries have increased their youth literacy rates by 10 to 16 percentage points over time. n 8 of 10 countries are in SSA. n Despite great improvement, only 4 of 10 countries have youth literacy rates higher than 75%. n Four countries’ rates worsened by more than 2% over the same period: Iraq, Madagascar, Haiti, and Congo, Dem. Rep.

Youth Literacy Rate. Total ( ) Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2013 Note: Data displayed is for the most recent available year The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The maps are for reference only.

Is there disparity between genders in youth literacy rates? n Globally, there is still a gender gap in youth literacy rates, though the gap has been shrinking over time. n There was a 8.6% difference between male and female youth literacy rates during n The gender gap shrunk by 41.5% to 5.0% during % of males were literate compared to 87% of females. Fewer females emerge from education systems with basic literacy skills than males.

Are gender disparities in youth literacy rates decreasing? n Gender disparities between male and female youth literacy rates have decreased in all regions. n EAP, ECA, and LAC have achieved almost perfect gender parity (1.0), while MNA, SAS, and SSA lag behind. n SAS and MNA have improved greatly over time: They moved 0.17 and 0.14 closer to gender parity. n Progress in SSA has been slower with only 0.09 improvement. in Gender disparities in youth literacy rates have decreased over time in all regions.

Gender Parity Index for Youth Literacy Rate ( ) Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2013 Note: Data displayed is for the most recent available year The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The maps are for reference only. Gender Parity Male Bias

Which countries have the lowest female literacy rates? n The 20 lowest female youth literacy rates were all found in Sub- Saharan African countries except for Pakistan. n Only 1/3 of female youth are literate in Burkina Faso and Mali. n Less than half of female youth are literate in the top 5 countries.

Which countries have increased female youth literacy rates the most over time? n These countries have increased their female youth literacy rates by 14 to 23 percentage points over time. n 8 of 10 countries are in SSA and 2 are in SAS. n Despite great improvement, only 4 of 10 countries have female youth literacy rates higher than 75%. n Haiti’s female youth literacy rate worsened over the period by 10 percentage points.

Youth Literacy Rate. Female ( ) Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2013 Note: Data displayed is for the most recent available year The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The maps are for reference only.

Adult Literacy

Have adult literacy rates improved over time? n Global adult literacy rates improved from 75.7% to 84.1% -- an 8 percentage point increase over time. n Still, 16% of adults have emerged from education systems without basic literacy skills. n All regions showed improvement in adult literacy rates, but MNA improved the most from 56% to 76% -- a 20 percentage point increase over time. (continued on next slide) Adult literacy rates have been increasing over the years in all regions.

Have adult literacy rates improved over time? (continued) n ECA has consistently had the highest adult literacy rates (95%+). n More than 1/3 of adults are illiterate in SAS and SSA, but SAS improved from 46% to 62% – a 16 percentage point increase. n SSA has improved more slowly than SAS at 8.4 percentage points of improvement over time. Adult literacy rates have been increasing over the years in all regions.

Which countries have the lowest adult literacy rates? n 9 of the 10 countries with the lowest adult literacy rates are in SSA. Haiti is the exception. n Less than one third of adults are literate in Mali and Burkina Faso. n Of the 149 countries with data, 20 countries have adult literacy rates less than 60% and 43 countries have adult literacy rates less than 75%. n 75 countries have adult literacy rates higher than 90%.

Which countries have increased adult literacy rates the most over time? n These countries have increased their adult literacy rates by 9 to 21 percentage points over time. n 7 of 10 countries are in SSA. n Despite great improvement, at least 30% of adults were illiterate in all these countries except Sudan. n Haiti’s adult literacy rate worsened by 10 percentage points, and Madagascar’s by 6 percentage points.

Adult Literacy Rate. Total ( ) Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2013 Note: Data displayed is for the most recent available year The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The maps are for reference only.

Is there disparity between genders in adult literacy rates? n Globally, there is still a gender gap in adult literacy rates, though the gap has been shrinking over time. n There was a 12.6% difference between male (82%) and female (69.4%) adult literacy rates during n The gender gap shrunk by 29% to 8.9% during % of males were literate compared to 79.7% of females. Fewer adult females have basic literacy skills, but the gender gap has decreased over time.

Have gender disparities in adult literacy rates decreased over time? n Gender disparities in adult literacy rates have decreased over time in all regions. n ECA and LAC have achieved gender parity with GPIs at n MNA, SAS, and EAP have made the most progress by moving 0.16, 0.13, and 0.13 closer to 1.0 (gender parity) respectively. n Progress in SSA has been slower with only 0.09 improvement. n SAS, SSA, and MNA are furthest from gender parity in adult literacy. All regions are moving closer to gender parity in adult literacy rates.

Which countries have the lowest female literacy rates? n Less than one quarter of females are literate in the top 3 countries – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad. Less than one third of females are literate in the top 7 countries. n All the countries on the list are in SSA except Pakistan. n Of the 144 countries with data, 19 countries have female adult literacy rates less than 50% and 70 countries have rates higher than 90%.

Which countries have increased female adult literacy rates the most over time? n These countries have increased their female adult literacy rates by 11 to 23 percentage points over time. n Six of the countries are in SSA; 2 are in SAS. n Despite great improvement, more than 1/3 of women are illiterate in all of these countries except Saudi Arabia. n Haiti’s rate worsened by 10.3 percentage points over time.

Adult Literacy Rate. Female ( ) Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2013 Note: Data displayed is for the most recent available year The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The maps are for reference only.

This presentation utilizes the following data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics data in the EdStats Query n The presentation was created with the most recent UIS data release that included 2010 data for most countries. n Indicators were calculated by UIS according to definitions available in the EdStats Query. EdStats Query Data Sources

The State of Education Series The following State of Education presentations are available on the EdStats website:EdStats website Educational Levels: n n Pre-Primary Education Pre-Primary Education n n Primary Education Primary Education n n Secondary Education Secondary Education n n Tertiary Education Tertiary Education Topics: n n Access Access n n Quality Quality n n Expenditures Expenditures n n Literacy Literacy n n Equity Equity n n Gender Gender