Jordan shares the world today Wednesday's celebration of World Literacy Day, which takes place on 8 September each year. This year slogan is "Literacy for a people centered recovery.”This day aims to focus on the interplay between literacy and digital skills needed by young people and adults who are not literate, and an opportunity to re-visualize the future of literacy teaching and learning in the midst of the Corona pandemic and its post-demise. Literacy is seen as an engine for sustainable development, as well as being an inherent part of education and a form of lifelong learning based on humanity as enshrined in Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals, "Ensuring quality, equitable and inclusive education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
The Day began in 1967 to remind the international community of the importance of literacy and to intensify efforts to reach more literate societies. This year it is taking place in the midst of at least 773 million young people and women who are unable to read and write (two thirds of that figure is women) worldwide. According to the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science (ALEXO), the illiteracy rate in the Arab world is about 21%, and it is about 14.6% among Arab males and 25.9% among females.
In a press release on the occasion, Secretary-General of the Higher Council Population, Dr.Abla Amawi, noted that according to data from the General Statistics Service for the year 2020, female illiteracy reached 7.5% compared to males 2.7% among the Jordanian population aged 15 and over, while it reached 29.7% for 65 and over age group (46.6% for females and 12.9% for males).
The proportion drops significantly in the 15-19 age group, which has reached 0.7%(%0.5 females/0.9male) The figure was 32% for female heads of household, 7.7% for female living with their families household with an income of less than 200 dinars, 60.8% for these work in primary occupation, and the highest illiteracy rate of 8.9% was found in Ma'an province (12.1% females and 5.8% males) and the lowest in Irbid province, 1.1% (6.6% females, 1.6% males)In the capital province, 4.2% (6.1% females and 2.4% males) and in the countryside 7.8% (11.5% females and 4.2% males) higher than the urban ratio of 4.7% (7% females and 2.5% males), which calls for intensified efforts to reduce illiteracy rates especially among females as well as in rural and remote areas.
Amawi explained that the results of the study "Living conditions of Syrian refugees in Jordan based on the results of a survey (2017-2018) for Syrian refugees in and out of camps, "prepared by FAO for the United Nations (FAFO) In 2019, 26% of Syrian refugees did not complete primary school, compared to 15% of adults aged 20 and over who received a secondary or post-secondary degree. (2-5%) Syrian refugees (18-22 years) enrol in post-secondary education, compared to (24-46%) Jordanians in this age group.
Amawi explained Jordan was one of the countries that had made great strides in combating illiteracy, in the belief that education for all was an inherent right enshrined in the Jordanian Constitution and in the realization of the principle of equal educational opportunities for all as a fundamental basis in the Education and Education Act. Jordan had achieved a qualitative shift in the public education sector for Jordanians and non-Jordanians, and had been implementing literacy programmes since the Jordanian Constitution issue in 1952 at that time, the illiteracy rate was 88%, up to 5.1% in 2020 for the Jordanian population aged 15 and over. Up until now The Ministry of Education has opened 165 adult education and literacy centres in various rural and rural areas, with 21 male and 144 female centres.
Although progress had been made, challenges remained in the area of literacy, which coincided with a rapid increase in demand for skills for the labour market, most notably the phenomenon of school drop-outs, since, despite the achievement of free, compulsory and inclusive education for all citizens up to the age of 16, which had been reflected in many national indicators, such as the high enrolment rate at that level 97.8% According to the statistical report for the school year (2019/2020), 97.8% are male and 97.8% are female however, a great number of male and female students drop out of school before the age of 16, and the cumulative number of drop-outs at the basic level in just nine years in the period (2011-2019): 44,120 students (22,715 male students, 21,405 female students). This constitutes a major impediment to the achievement of the objectives of economic and social development, affects human capital and its productivity, and generates social costs for society to address the consequences of the problem of illiteracy and dropout, such as poverty, unemployment, child labour, child marriage, unregulated labour, juvenile delinquency, delinquency and other social problems.
The refusal of some women to attend literacy centres because they were unable to leave their children at home alone was also a major challenge, which required home-based e-programs, linking the requirement to join the literacy programme to teaching them a craft or a manual industry and helping them market them to increase their income, as well as the prevailing culture of not considering the education of older persons a priority, a low awareness of the importance of literacy, and the shame older persons feel if they go to school.
Amawi indicated that the Corona virus pandemic had disrupted the learning process of children, youth and adults in an unprecedented manner, exacerbated inequalities in access to constructive literacy opportunities, and the abrupt shift to distance learning had created the digital divide in Internet connectivity and infrastructure, as well as the capacity to use technology, showing that the General Statistics Service data for the years. (2010-2017) showed that 55.6% of females did not use the Internet compared to 44.4% of males (15 years and over).
The pandemic could have repercussions, especially when education was interrupted for periods of time, which adversely affected some of the skills acquired by adults. Adult literacy programmes in many countries, including Jordan, were absent from primary education plans, and the spread of COVID-19 had led workers to stop learning to read and write.
The Higher Population Council recommended several measures to improve the system for combating illiteracy, to coordinate with the various actors involved in combating this phenomenon, the most important of which are the diversity of forms of learning and communication with students, such as short and informative videos or audio samples, the publication of free audio and school books via the Internet so that their learning processes are not stopped during crises and emergencies, and the development of special programmes for young adult groups.The need to find ways to establish effective linkages between literacy skills and technical and professional skills within the framework of policies, practices and systems and their management. The new demand for skills and the momentum generated by the current context of digitization require that vocational and technical training programmes be linked to the literacy programme, since without literacy we will not reach the level of skilled employment, as well as the importance of providing a comprehensive platform for bringing together literacy experts from most countries of the world to share experiences and Contribute to the creation of employment opportunities for literacy-free people and enabling them to integrate economically and socially through linking literacy processes with income-generating projects, as well as linking with social protection programmes so that literacy is required as a condition of access to cash aid in cooperation with the National Aid Fund and the Zakat Fund, promoting social responsibility initiatives for the private sector, as well as providing friendly transportation for older persons, and providing support equipment and ensuring ease of access.
