Morocco to lower illiteracy rate to 25 percent

Morocco is determined to lower the illiteracy rate from 55 percent to 25 percent in the next 15 years, Moroccan Social Development and Solidarity Minister Khalid Alioua said.

Speaking at a workshop held on Monday in the northern Morocco city of Tangiers, Alioua said the goal can be reached "if we managed to teach how to read and write an average of 500,000 persons per year," Map reported.

The Moroccan minister added that illiteracy is one of the main causes of poverty which the government will combat through the consolidation of literacy campaigns and improvement of citizens' living conditions.

A recent survey conducted by the Moroccan National Council of Youth and Future said about half of the 28-million strong Moroccan population are illiterate.

The illiteracy rate is higher in rural areas where it stands at 63 percent, while in cities 31 percent of the population is illiterate.