70 million illiterates in the Arab states

The Arab League Education, Cultural and Scientific Organization ALECSO said that the number of illiterates in the Arab states will reach 70 million among people of age group over 15 year old constituting a rate of 35.6 percent of the population.

An internal report by ALECSO said that this manifestation covers all the Arab region but includes in particular countries of high population density especially Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco and Yemen.

The smaller countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait as well as the Palestinians are the best among the 21 Arab states.

Though illiteracy rate has decreased in general, the total number of illiterates in total continued to increase. It increased from 50 million ( 73% percent) in 1970 to 61 million in 1990 ( 48.7%) and this number is expected to reach 70 million this year.

ALECSO which takes Tunis as a headquarters seeks through several programs and strategies to eradicate illiteracy in this regard.