Lebanon:

“In conformity with the trend worldwide, more women are illiterate than
men.”

 “There are currently some 25 percent more women who are illiterate.
In the age group of 45 years and above, however, about 60 percent more women are
illiterate than men.”

 

LEBANON: Fight against illiteracy begins yielding results

 

©  Peter Speetjens/IRIN A literacy class in Ain El-Remmaneh

BEIRUT, 17 Apr 2006 (IRIN) – “I left school when I was only
11,” said 38 year-old Ihsan. “My mother became ill, and – being the eldest
daughter – I had to take care of the family. That’s why I never learnt how to
read or write properly.”

Wearing a white and orange head scarf, the young
mother of four currently takes literacy classes at a community centre in Ain
Remmaneh, a predominantly Christian area of the capital, Beirut. Ihsan shares a
classroom with a dozen other women from different backgrounds and religions,
varying from 20 to 70 years of age.

“My parents were quite conservative,
and didn’t think it necessary for girls to go to school,” said 63 year-old
Moufida, a classmate of Ihsan’s. “I don’t blame them. Those were just different
times.”

Both Ihsan and Moufida live in Beirut, but are originally from
the Bekaa Valley, a poor and largely agricultural area in the east of the
country. Although neither received any formal education, their children went to
school, some of them to university. One of the main motivations for the two
mothers to learn to read and write is so they can communicate with their
children by e-mail.

Illiteracy and poverty

According to
figures from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Lebanon, with a population of about
4 million, has an illiteracy rate of 11.5 percent. In conformity with the trend
worldwide, more women are illiterate than men.

“The gap between male and
female [in terms of literacy] has grown smaller over the years,” said Amal
Charara, head of the ministry’s National Committee for Literacy and Adult
Education. “There are currently some 25 percent more women who are illiterate.
In the age group of 45 years and above, however, about 60 percent more women are
illiterate than men.”

Illiteracy rates vary considerably from one area of
the country to the next. Nabatieh in the south and the Bekaa Valley in the east,
for example, have the highest levels, both at about 15 percent. The province of
Mount Lebanon, meanwhile, in the heart of Lebanon, boasts the lowest rate, at
about 8 percent.

“There’s a direct link between illiteracy and poverty,”
Charara pointed out. “It’s usually the result of people having to leave school
at an early age to support the family. Lebanon’s civil war and the war with
Israel also had negative effects.”

While Beirut has an average illiteracy
rate of some 10 percent, levels also vary widely within different areas of the
capital. In Palestinian refugee camps and in poorer parts of the suburbs, for
example, the rate can often be twice as high.

On both a global and
regional scale, Lebanon scores relatively high in terms of literacy. According
to the 2004 Global Monitoring Report issued by Unesco, there were some 862
million illiterate peoples worldwide in 2000, representing a global illiteracy
rate of 20 percent for adults (aged 15 years and above). Some 61 of these, the
report noted, live in the world’s four most densely populated countries, namely,
India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Fighting the trend

In the Arab world, home to some 67 million illiterate people out of
a total population of 280 million, only Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab
Emirates and Kuwait have achieved literacy rates close to 90 percent, according
to Unesco. Last year, the agency introduced an initiative aimed at halving
illiteracy rates worldwide by establishing literacy programmes at the centre of
all formal and informal education systems.

Aided by a number of
international agencies, Lebanon’s National Committee for Literacy and Adult
Education was established in 1995 as an integral part of the social affairs
ministry. Based on the concept “Education for all”, the committee offers
training and literacy workshops to all illiterate people aged 10 and above. The
committee also works on illiteracy prevention by lobbying to raise the minimum
age of compulsory free education from 10 to 15.

“We have some 40
instructors working in 60 centres around the country that offer classes to some
2,500 people annually,” said Charara. “There are also several non-governmental
organisations offering language training in the Palestinian camps and
orphanages, among other places.”

Those involved say some 70 percent of
people currently taking literacy courses are women. “The reason there are more
women than men is simply because there are more illiterate women than men,” said
Charara. “But it’s also because men have to work to support their families and
have less time to follow classes.”

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