Literacy rate of 15–24 year-olds, or the youth literacy rate, is the percentage of the population ages 15–24 years-old who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on everyday life. The definition of literacy sometimes extends to basic arithmetic and other life skills.
Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education.
Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
The youth literacy rate reflects the outcomes of primary education over the previous 10 years or so. As a measure of the effectiveness of the primary education system, it is often seen as a proxy measure of social progress and economic achievement. The literacy rate for this analysis is simply the complement of the illiteracy rate. It is not a measure of the quality and adequacy of the literacy level needed for individuals to function in a society. Reasons for failing to achieve the literacy standard may include low quality of schooling, difficulties in attending school or dropping out before reaching grade 5.
The usual method of computation is to divide the number of people ages 15–24 who are literate by the total population in the same age group and to multiply the total by 100. Since literacy data are not always available for all countries and all censuses, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics uses modeling techniques to produce annual estimates based on literacy information obtained from national censuses and surveys.
Literacy data may be derived from population censuses, household surveys and literacy surveys, and total population is derived from national censuses or sample surveys. However, not all censuses or surveys include specific questions for assessing literacy. In some countries where literacy questions are not included, a person’s educational attainment (years of schooling completed) is used to assess literacy status. A common practice is to consider those with no schooling as illiterate and those who have attended grade 5 of primary school as literate.
Many household surveys, including the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys, Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Surveys in Africa and Living Standards Measurement Studies, collect literacy data, which can provide complementary data for countries without a recent census. However, definitions are not necessarily standardized (see “Comments and limitations”).
Most of the available data on literacy are based on reported literacy rather than on tested literacy and in some cases are derived from other proxy information.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics, www.uis.unesco.org.
The State of the World’s Children, annual, United Nations Children’s Fund (www.unicef.org/publications).
World Development Indicators, annual, World Bank (www.worldbank.org/data).
Human Development Report, annual, United Nations Development Program (www.undp.org).
Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies, 2001, United Nations Division for Sustainable Development (www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isd.htm).
Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, “Technical Guidelines”, 1998, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (www.unescobkk.org/infores/efa2000/tech2.htm).
Youth literacy rates may change more quickly than adult literacy rates and therefore need to be measured more often. Since population censuses normally occur only every 10 years, input from more frequently administered labour force and household surveys are used for annual estimates. Data are available for consecutive five-year age cohorts starting at 15–19 years old. Household surveys are generally conducted every three to five years in most developing countries.
Higher illiteracy rates for women are the result of lower school enrolment and early drop-outs. Moreover, because women generally have less access to information and training and literacy programmes, estimates based on enrolments may overestimate literacy for girls.
Rural and urban differences are particularly important in the analysis of education data because of significant differences in school facilities, available resources, demand on children’s time for work and drop-out patterns. It is also important to consider disaggregation by geographical area and social or ethnic groups. However, showing and analyzing data on specific ethnic groups may be a sensitive issue in the country. Gender differences may also be more pronounced in some social and ethnic groups.
International data comparisons
The main international source of data is UNESCO’s international data series of annual and projected estimates based on information from national population censuses and labour force, household and other surveys. The estimates are available for some 130 countries.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics, www.uis.unesco.org.
The State of the World’s Children, annual, United Nations Children’s Fund (www.unicef.org/publications).
World Development Indicators, annual, World Bank (www.worldbank.org/data).
Human Development Report, annual, United Nations Development Program (www.undp.org).
Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies, 2001, United Nations Division for Sustainable Development (www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isd.htm).
Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, “Technical Guidelines”, 1998, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (www.unescobkk.org/infores/efa2000/tech2.htm).
Measurements of literacy can vary from simply asking “Are you literate or not?” to testing to assess literacy skills. In some cases, literacy is measured crudely in population censuses, either through self-declaration or by assuming that people with no schooling are illiterate. This causes difficulty for international comparisons. Comparability over time, even for the same survey, may also be a problem because definitions of literacy used in the surveys are not standardized. The latest UN Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses advises countries against adopting a proxy measurement based on educational attainment. It recommends that literacy questions be administered as part of national censuses and household surveys, or as part of a post-census sample enumeration.
Shortcomings in the definition of literacy, measurement problems and infrequency of censuses and literacy surveys weaken this indicator as a means of monitoring education outcomes related to the goal of achieving universal primary education.
Agencies
Ministries of education.
National statistical offices.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics.