Illiteracy Rates

Illiteracy + Unemployment = Poverty

It’s estimated that over 90% of children out of school live in poverty.

As you can see, poverty is hunger. It’s about not having money, a job, or a shelter. It’s about being sick without treatment. This has people living one day at a time, but with little hope for the future.

According to the World Bank Organization, the primary cause of this is a lack of access to schools and the inability to read. Let’s explore this further.

Defining illiteracy

Illiteracy is defined as not knowing how to read or write beyond a basic level, understanding directions, or having the capacity to complete tasks in a timely manner.

A person can either be purely or functionally illiterate. Purely illiterate individuals cannot read or write in any capacity for all practical purposes. In contrast, functionally illiterate individuals can read and potentially write simple sentences with a limited vocabulary, but cannot read or write well enough to handle the daily requirements of life in their own society.

Here is a list of countries with the highest illiteracy rates:

The World's 20 Most Illiterate Countries

	Illiterate	Male	Female
1. Niger	80.9	72.7	89.0
2. South Sudan	73.2	65.2	80.8
3. Guinea	69.6	61.9	77.2
4. Burkina Faso	64.0	57.0	70.7
5. Central African Republic	63.2	49.3	75.6
6. Afghanistan	61.8	48.0	75.8
7. Benin	61.6	50.1	72.7
8. Mali	61.3	51.8	70.8
9. Chad	59.8	51.5	68.1
10. Cote d’Ivoire	56.9	46.9	67.5
11. Liberia	52.4	37.6	67.2
12. Sierra Leone	51.9	41.3	62.3
13. Ethiopia	50.9	42.8	58.9
14. Mauritania	47.9	37.4	58.4
15. Sudan	46.5	40.2	53.3
16. Gambia	44.5	36.1	52.4
17. Senegal	44.3	31.5	56.2
18. Pakistan	42.1	30.5	54.2
19. Mozambique	41.2	26.7	54.6
20. Nigeria	40.4	30.8	50.3

Resource: The World Factbook

I’m Somebody

Summary: We do not know if these countries’ illiteracy rates are purely or functional, but we do know that 18 of the world’s top 20 most illiterate countries are in Africa.

From this, we can conclude that some African nations lack the educational resources or tools needed to improve their lives.

What is your country illiteracy rate??

Nearly one billion people will not be able to read this article by the year 2030