In the aftermath of the World War II, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched an ambitious campaign to improve access to education and to fight illiteracy worldwide. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 had legitimised international action to raise educational and living standards in the…

This article examines the invention of counting literacy on a national basis in nineteenth-century Britain. Through an analysis of Registrar Generals' reports, it describes how the early statisticians wrestled with the implications of their new-found capacity to describe a nation's communications skills in a single table and how they were unable…

As a legacy of British colonial rule, Sierra Leone's education system gives half of its budget to higher education, heavily benefits the upper and middle classes and serves the poor and rural populations badly. The illiteracy rate is 85%. Policy recommendations are outlined for resource allocation and major restructuring of the education system.…

Traces the history of education in Somalia: in precolonial traditional Somalia; during colonial rule by Italy; under civilian rule, 1960-69; and under military rule, 1969-90. Describes the total destruction of the education system since the 1991 collapse of the state, widespread illiteracy and adolescent involvement in thuggery, and the urgent…

Examines the growth of recognition of adult illiteracy in Western Europe and North America since the early 1970s. Discusses the invisibility of the problem, types of illiteracy identified in schools, importance of literacy across the curriculum, links between illiteracy and poverty, and involvement of international organizations. Contains 36…

Goals, content, methods, and outcomes of adult education differ according to state policy and characteristics of the political regime. In the 1980s, Mexico represented a "corporatist" state undertaking an incremental approach to literacy provision for purposes of political legitimation and social integration, while Nicaragua represented…

In sub-Saharan Africa, aggregate data show that female literacy is associated with higher agricultural productivity and is more strongly correlated than GNP with mortality and immunization rates of young children. A case study of Gambia confirms these relationships, with high female illiteracy apparently impeding both human and economic…

The history of education of minority nationalities in China before and after 1976 is discussed. Tables of population (1964, 1982) of China by nationality, of types of autonomous administration units of minority nationalities, and of increase in number of minority nationality students are provided. (MH)