Illiteracy in Palestine 6.1%

Illiteracy in Palestine decreased 61% in 12 years

Date: 07 / 09 / 2008  Time:  10:13
Bethlehem - Ma'an -

On the Occasion of International Illiteracy day on 8 September, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released a report on illiteracy rates throughout Palestine.

The rate of illiteracy in Palestine has decreased by 61%, said a report from PCBS on Sunday. According to the report, however, 124,000 Palestinians are still illiterate, 77% of them women.

The PCBS counted the illiteracy rates for those 15 and over in the Palestinian territories over the period 1995-2007 and found that the rates fell from 15.7% to 6.1%.

The rates of illiteracy for males were much lower to begin with at 8.5% and have dropped to just 2.8%. While there was a huge improvement in illiteracy rates for women, falling from 23.0% to 9.5%, the final figure is staggering.

Literacy rates by locality saw urban Palestinians drop from 12.8% to 5.2%, and Palestinians living in the country or villages, decrease from 18.4% to 8.1%. In refugee camps illiteracy decreased from 15.5% to 5.7% in the same period.

PCBS said that their findings indicated that the rates in the urban, rural and refugee camps are comparatively close, whereas illiteracy rates for males and females regardless of location showed a continued disparity.

The survey found the highest illiteracy rate among individuals 65 years and over at 58.0%, compared to 0.9% among individuals aged 15-24 years.

The highest illiteracy rate among individuals 15 years and over in 2007 was in the Tubas governorate at 8.4%, followed by Jericho and Al-Aghwar (the Jordan valley), Ramallah and Al-Bireh at 7.5% for each. In the Gaza Strip the lowest rate was in the North Gaza governorate, which had an illiteracy rate of 5.1%.

In real numbers, PCBS calculated that in the Palestinian territories 123,834 people over 15 are illiterate. There are 82,719 illiterate West Bankers, and 41,115 illiterate Gazans. There are 28,216 illiterate males and 95,618 illiterate females. Of those living in cities there are 59,452 illiterate Palestinians, 46,458 in rural areas and 17,924 in refugee camps.