INTRODUCTION TO BASIC
EDUCATION AND LITERACY
Basic education and literacy is one of Rotary’s
six areas of focus.
We know that basic education and literacy are
essential for reducing poverty, improving health,
encouraging community and economic development,
and promoting peace. Consider these facts:
If all women completed primary education,
there would be 66% fewer maternal deaths.
A child born to a mother who can read is 50%
more likely to survive past the age of five.
If all students in low-income countries left
school with basic reading skills, 171 million
people could be lifted out of poverty, which
would be equivalent to a 12% cut in world
poverty.
The world is making good progress in this area.
According to a 2014 United Nations Millennium
Development Goals progress report, literacy rates
among adults and youths are on the rise and the
gender gap in literacy is narrowing. But pressing
global needs remain:
58 million children worldwide are out
of school.
Even after four years of primary schooling,
as many as 250 million children cannot read
and write.
781 million adults are illiterate.
