Illiteracy poses a threat to Yemen’s development [Archives:2005/876/Front Page]

Yasser Mohammed Al-Mayyasi
SANA'A- Sept.10- Countries all over the world celebrated World Illiteracy Eradication Day. Yemen joined other countries from the developed and developing world.

Illiteracy is often credited with slow economic growth, insularity and a break down in the political process.

Although illiteracy is a worldwide issue, it is especially prevalent in the third world and especially in developing Arab states.

Arab countries still suffer from a high illiteracy rate (over 20%) and often have the worst facilities and least concern for educating their populations.

Illiteracy may indeed be increasing due to early school leavers, a lack of recognition for the importance of reading and a second rate media.

Retarded development in Arab countries reinforces illiteracy among young people.

Illiteracy in the Arab region is still over 43 percent out of the overall population mainly women. Unofficial scores revealed that in Yemen, the illiteracy rate reached 64% among men and 76% among women, however, the government released scores setting the illiteracy rate at 49.2%.

Despite the fact the government stepped up efforts and announced a long-term strategy for eradicating illiteracy and establishing institutions for adults learning under the Law No. 28 issued in 1998, the Republic of Yemen has one of the highest literacy rates in the world.

The government approved the implementation of campaigns to fight illiteracy all around the Republic starting with the capital city of Sana'a. The illiteracy eradication strategy targets 5,281,150 illiterate people in all the Yemeni governorates mainly those over ten years of age, as well as students who drop out of schools.

The implementation of the strategy covered four phases, the first of which started in 1996 and ended in 2000. It covered making all the arrangements for the educational process. The second phase assessed the shortcomings of the previous one with the aim to suggest possible solutions for them. This phase lasted up until 2005, during which campaigns for raising awareness about the risks of illiteracy have been implemented in the most densely populated areas. The strategy was aimed at fighting illiteracy among military and security forces and other governmental sectors with more emphasis on women.

Most illiterate people either have no access to facilities or are forced to work from a young age due to economic necessity.
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