40th International Literacy Day observed

September 8, 2006
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The 40th International Literacy Day was observed in Nepal as well by organizing various programmes on Friday.

Though the average literacy rate of the country is 54 percent, literacy is a grave challenge in rural areas. More than 50 percent of the people in 32 districts are still illiterate.

According to reports, the literacy rate of eight districts including Humla, Jumla, Mugu, Bajura, Rasuwa, Mahottari and Rautahat is less than 35 percent. According to government data, a staggering 74 percent of the people of Humla are still illiterate.

Even the government’s effort to provide informal education to the illiterate people has not been effective with ever increasing population.

The decade long Maoist insurgency has also adversely affected the education sector of the country. Maoists have forced private and government schools of remote districts to follow their education system.

Many teachers were compelled to live in district headquarter due to the Maoist threats and many schools were occupied by the both the government and the Maoist armies as bases affecting the education of the people.

Report quoted director of the Information Education Program, Bunu Shreshta, as saying the government’s effort alone is not sufficient to decrease illiteracy.

According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s 2006 Global Monitoring Report, south and west Asia has the lowest regional adult literacy rate (58.6%), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (59.7%), and the Arab States (62.7%). Countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world are Burkina Faso (12.8%), Niger (14.4%) and Mali (19%), the report adds.

The report further said in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique and Nepal, where three-quarters or more of the population live on less than $2 dollars per day, adult literacy rates are below 63% and the number of illiterates exceeds 5 million.

The report further said that those 23 countries may not meet the target of Education for All by 2015 set by the United Nations.