Illiteracy rate in Palestine no more than 2.8%
On the occasion of the International Literacy Day, 8th September 2019, Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics announced that there were about 83 thousands illiterate persons among persons aged 15 years
and above in 2018. According to the United Nations for Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) – the illiterate person applies to persons unable to read and write with
understanding a simple statement related to one’s daily life. International Literacy Day 2019 will focus
on ‘Literacy and Multilingualism.’ Despite progress made, literacy challenges persist, distributed
unevenly across countries and populations. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by
world leaders in September 2015, promotes, as part of its agenda, universal access to quality education
and learning opportunities throughout people’s lives. Sustainable Development Goal 4 has as one of its
targets ensuring all young people achieve literacy and numeracy and that adults who lack these skills
are given the opportunity to acquire them.
The illiteracy rate in Palestine is one of the lowest in the world
According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the illiteracy rate among persons 15 years and above in
Arab States was 24.8% (about 64.6 million illiterate persons) in 2016: for males, 17.4% (23.7 million
illiterate persons) compared to 32.8% for females (40.9 million illiterate persons). For the same year,
the rate was 13.8% (about 750.1 million illiterate persons) in the world among the same age group: for
males. 10.2% (277.2 million illiterate persons) compared to 17.3% for females (472.9 million illiterate
persons).
The illiteracy rates reduced by 80% through the last two decades
Illiteracy rates among Palestinian population aged 15 years and above in Palestine fell in the period
1997-2018 from 13.9% to 2.8%. For males, the rate fell from 7.8% in 1997 to 1.3% in 2018, while for
females it fell from 20.3% to 4.3% over the same period.
According to region, the rate fell from 14.1% in 1997 to 3.0% in 2018 in the West Bank while the rate
fell in Gaza Strip from 13.7% in 1997 to 2.4% over the same period.
The illiteracy rate among females is higher than of males
In 2018, the illiteracy rate among persons 15 years and above in Palestine was 2.8% (82.8 thousand
illiterate persons): 1.3% for males (20.2 thousand illiterate persons) and 4.3% for females (62.6
thousand illiterate persons). According to region, the illiteracy rate among persons 15 years and above
in the West Bank was 3.0% (56.0 thousand illiterate persons): 1.3% for males (12.6 thousand illiterate
persons) and 4.8% for females (43.4 thousand illiterate persons) in the same year. While the illiteracy
rate among persons 15 years and above in Gaza Strip was 2.4% (26.8 thousand illiterate persons):
1.3% for males (7.6 thousand illiterate persons) and 3.4% for females (19.2 thousand illiterate
persons).
More than half of illiterate persons are elderly
In 2018, the illiteracy rate among older persons aged 65 years and above reached about 29.7% (47.0
thousand illiterate persons). The rate was about 3.3% in the (45-64) year age group (19.0 thousand
illiterate persons), 0.8% in the (30-44) year age group (7.0 thousand illiterate persons) and 0.7%
among youth aged between (15-29) years (9.8 thousand illiterate persons) in the same year. The
illiteracy rate varies considerably between age groups, where the age group 65 years and above got the
highest rate, while the lowest rate was among the age groups (30-44) years and (15-29) years.
The illiteracy rate is the highest in rural areas compared to other localities
In 2018, the illiteracy rate among rural localities reached 3.7% (18.0 thousand illiterate persons), while
scored 2.8% in the refugee camps (7.1 thousand illiterate persons) and 2.6% (57.7 thousand illiterate
persons) in urban areas. In 2018, the female illiteracy rate was the highest in rural localities, followed
by refugee camps and urban areas respectively. Male illiteracy rate did not vary by type of locality.
The highest illiteracy rate was in Salfit Governorate
In 2018, the highest illiteracy rate among persons aged 15 years and above was in Salfit governorate
with 5.4%, followed by Jericho and Al Aghwar governorate with 3.9%. The lowest rate was in Gaza
governorate with 2.0%. According to sex, the highest illiteracy rate among males aged 15 years and
above was in Jerusalem governorate with 2.9% while the highest illiteracy rate among females for the
same age group was in Salfit governorate with 9.2%.
