The head of Iran’s Literacy Movement Organization (ILMO) admitted that nearly 2 million women across Iran are illiterate.
According to the state-run ILNA news agency, Ali Baqerzadeh (head of ILMO) said: “Nearly 1,800,000 women still suffer from illiteracy across Iran.”
He added that the total number of 10 to 49 year old women who are illiterate in Iran is nearly 2.7 million. As well, the percentage of illiterate women in Iran’s villages is much higher than in urban areas, while in some of the provinces the rate is above 30%.
The illiteracy gap between men and women in Iran has narrowed in recent years, claimed Baqerzadeh, with the current gap at 12%. Still, the rate of illiteracy reported in Iran is unreliable, as different authorities report different statistics.
Baqerzadeh told state-run Fars news agency last summer that there were nearly 9 million totally illiterate persons living in Iran. He had previously announced, in 2015, that efforts were under way to eradicate illiteracy by the end of the Fifth National Development Plan. “Improving literacy is not only a cultural and educational move but also impacts all sections of society,” he said.
A “meaningful link” between illiteracy and crime was also noted by Baqerzadeh, who said as the number of educated people increases, the crime rate declines.
High illiteracy rate among women in Iran due to poverty is the result of the mullahs’ misogynous policy as well as corruption and plundering of the Iranian people’s wealth by the regime’s officials and also spending the money on interfering in foreign countries and funding terrorist groups in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Illiteracy increases the likelihood of remaining in poverty, according to UNESCO, that has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts since 1946, advancing the vision of a literate world for all. UNESCO views acquiring and improving literacy skills throughout life as an intrinsic part of the right to education. The “multiplier effect” of literacy empowers people, enables them to participate fully in society and contributes to improve livelihoods.
Literacy is also a driver for sustainable development in that it enables greater participation in the labour market; improved child and family health and nutrition. Adult illiteracy not only affects income and awareness of rights but also contributes to poor nutrition and health.
Literacy also reduces poverty and expands life opportunities. In fact, completing 12 years of school provides an 80 percent chance of earning an income that will enable an escape from the poverty cycle.
Beyond its conventional concept as a set of reading, writing and counting skills, literacy is now understood as a means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation, and communication in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich and fast-changing world.