RAMALLAH, Sunday, September 08, 2019 (WAFA) – Illiteracy rates among Palestinian population aged 15 years and above in Palestine fell in the period from 13.9% in 1997 to 2.8% in 2018, said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on the occasion of International Literacy Day today.
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.
By region, the rate fell from 14.1% in 1997 to 3.0% in 2018 in the West Bank while the rate fell in the Gaza Strip from 13.7% in 1997 to 2.4% over the same period.
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 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.
Illiteracy rate is higher in rural areas
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%.
By 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%.
M.N
