Home NewsEgypt News 23.7% of Egyptians above 15 are illiterate: CAPMAS

23.7% of Egyptians above 15 are illiterate: CAPMAS

by Noha Gad

More than 14 million Egyptians above the age of 10 cannot ‎read or write, said Egypt’s official statistics agency in a statement ‎Wednesday. ‎

Marking International Literacy Day, the Central Agency for Public ‎Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that of the 14.5 million ‎illiterate Egyptians, 9.3 million are ‎females and 5.2 million are males. ‎

The statement, which comes one day before the world celebrates the ‎‎50th anniversary of the start of International Literacy Day, ‎added that 23.7 percent of Egyptians above the age of 15 years are ‎illiterate; 30.9 percent female and 16.6 male. ‎

The gap between literate males and females in Egypt comes in line ‎with the international rates announced by UNESCO. According to ‎data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 758 million adults‎ aged 15 years and older remain ‎illiterate, two-thirds of whom are women. ‎

The CAPMAS statement adds that the illiteracy rate in Egypt for those aged between 15 and 24 is lower than the ‎rate for those above 60, with 6.6 ‎percent for youths compared to 59.4 percent for the elderly, which ‎according to the statement reflects “positive development towards ‎lowering the rates of illiteracy in the future.”

Source: Ahram Online

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