Educational attainment and adult literacy

Abstract

Background More than 60 years ago the international community declared literacy a basic human right. Recognition of its intrinsic value and evidence of its social and economic benefits have motivated an expansive international effort to estimate the percentage of adults that can read, especially in low-income countries where educational opportunities are limited. Population data on adults' educational attainment is commonly used to approximate adult literacy rates. Though increasing evidence from school-based studies of pupils confirm literacy achievement is not universal - even at advanced grades - it remains unclear whether adults' educational attainment is reflective of their literacy. Objective This study leverages population-based data that include direct assessments of adults' literacy skills to provide a descriptive account of the proportion of adults that can read at each level of educational attainment. The study focuses on the Sub-Saharan African context, a world region where school participation has expanded rapidly in the last three decades. Because many African adults have discontinued their education at the primary level, the study focuses on basic reading skills at each level of primary school. The study focuses specifically on women, whose literacy has garnered extensive international interest. Results Demographic and Health Survey data from 31 African countries confirm that there are many instances in which women have several years of primary school but cannot read. In fact, in some countries, large proportions of African women who never went to school can read, even as some of their peers who have completed primary school cannot. The weak correlation between educational attainment and literacy is not specific to older cohorts of women, but is also observed among younger women. Conclusion The findings demonstrate that educational attainment is generally a poor proxy for literacy, highlighting the need to measure, theorize, and study literacy as empirically distinct from education.

Achieving Equitable Education

“…They rely upon self-reported data, often using educational attainment data as a proxy for literacy but apply different lengths of school attendance or levels of completion. The contextual utility of this proxy has also been questioned, as a 2015 study on African countries found a weak correlation between educational attainment and literacy (Smith-Greenaway, 2015). Additionally, on SDG 4.4.1 measuring the level of proficiency in digital literacy, skills critical for the world of work, the ranking is based on individuals' reports that they have carried out selected activities in the previous three months, which may underestimate the percentage of those who possess the skill but have not used it recently.…”

Acceptability of index partner HIV self-testing among HIV-positive clients in Malawi: A mixed methods analysis

“…We measured literacy instead of educational attainment because literacy is important to reading and understanding both HIVST and partner referral slip strategies for index testing [26,27]. Further, in Malawi, educational attainment is a poor proxy for literacy levels [28]. Literacy was measured as a dichotomous variable, literate (= 1) or not (= 0), and measured by respondents' ability to read a brief sentence at a 3 rd grade reading level.…”

Teachers’ Perceptions on the Relationship between Social Competence and Reading Skills Acquisition in Primary School Pupils

“…It is a skill, which is the ground of almost all processes of learning, and is necessary for pupils to learn other subjects (Geske & Ozola, 2008). More than 70 years ago, the international community declared literacy a basic human right (Smith-Greenaway, 2015). Unfortunately, this expectation has not become a realization for many children, and the high rate of illiteracy continues to have an adverse effect in many nations (UNESCO, 2015).…”