[lg policy] State literacy question

[Anthea Fraser Gupta]

Agree with Francis. The kinds of salt are what I would emphasise with students.

Some considerations:

1) 'Literacy' has many possible thresholds, from being able to write one's name to being able to read a newspaper.

2) Literacy rate does not specify the language(s) of literacy.

3) In many of the places claiming 100% or near it (e.g. North Korea, Cuba) the literacy rate will be the literacy rate in a sole official/ dominant language.

4) Many of the countries reporting very high literacy rates (over 97%) may be excluding some groups, including some categories of disabled people and anyone who is not a citizen. It is likely to be very hard indeed to establish who has been excluded.

5) Censuses are the usual source. They vary in completeness and coverage. They are also usually based (in the best case scenario) on self-declaration.

6) With all these caveats, it is nevertheless the case that states with an efficiently delivered universal primary education system can deliver a good level of functional literacy to over 95% of the population. If education has been effectively delivered for a century (as in Europe, for example), total literacy will be over 95% without doubt, and that literacy will be in an official language (or in official languages).

Anthea

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Anthea Fraser Gupta (Dr)
School of English, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
<www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg<http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg>>
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________________________________
From: lgpolicy-list-bounces+a.f.gupta=leeds.ac.uk at groups.sas.upenn.edu [lgpolicy-list-bounces+a.f.gupta=leeds.ac.uk at groups.sas.upenn.edu] On Behalf Of Francis Hult [francis.hult at utsa.edu]
Sent: 07 June 2010 23:37
To: lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
Subject: RE: [lg policy] State literacy question

You might take a look at the UNESCO Institute for Statistics database.  It includes national youth (ages 15-24) literacy rates from 1975-2008:

http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=210

The literacy rates are compiled based on various sources, including national reports (which, as you say, must be taken with a grain of salt).  Here's a general link to the statistics portal where you can search for other areas too:
http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=143&IF_Language=eng

Francis

--
Francis M. Hult, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
University of Texas at San Antonio

Web: http://faculty.coehd.utsa.edu/fhult/

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From: lgpolicy-list-bounces at groups.sas.upenn.edu on behalf of Emily McEwan-Fujita
Sent: Mon 6/7/2010 3:28 PM
To: lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
Subject: [lg policy] State literacy question

Has any state government ever claimed to have achieved 100% literacy in an official state language among its population, measurable by a census or other survey? I would highly doubt the claim, but I am interested in the ideologies that would motivate such claims.

Also, can anyone suggest sources that would provide information on which modern states have claimed the highest literacy rates among their populations?

I am looking for cite-able sources, both for an article and for future course lectures.

Thank you very much,

Emily McEwan-Fujita

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