0.5 M citizens are not illiterate anymore: Minister of Higher Education

CAIRO - 29 October 2021: In a way to reduce the rate of illiteracy in Egypt, some universities helped eradicate the illiteracy of more than 0.5 million people over the period from October 2019 to July 2021 despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report issued by the Supreme Council of Universities.

 

A total of 230,103 illiterates received courses organized by the council, within the framework of the national project to eradicate illiteracy in Egypt in cooperation with the General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education, said the Ministry of High Education in a statement on Friday.

 

Minister of Higher education Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar stressed the importance of exploiting the capabilities of Egyptian universities in eradicating illiteracy, to achieve the state’s plan “Egypt without illiteracy” over five years.

 

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said on August 3, 2021, that the illiteracy rates (for those who are 10 years and above) decreased from 49.9 percent in 1986 to 25.8 percent. However, the Egyptian population in 1986 was 50.6 million people according to the World Bank’s date, while the population reached more than 100 people in 2021.