KABUL(SW):Based on the reports released by the Ministry of Education, 62 percent of the residents who are above 15 are illiterate throughout the country and 38 percent more can only read and write.
The ministry said that the number of literate residents was supposed to reach 48 percent by 2014 but the number remained stagnated at 36 percent.
Mohammad Azim Karbalayee, one of the deputies in the ministry, said that nearly 78 percent of female are illiterate in the country and 48 percent male are illiterate.
He added that according to the programs developed by the ministry, 600,000 citizen would benefit. Officials at the ministry blamed poor management practiced by the ministry over the past years as the reason for the inefficiency.
Mujib Mehrdad, Spokesman for the ministry, told Salam Watandar that one of the major programs at the ministry is to lift the literacy level to 60 percent by 2020. He said that good management and support by the government would be prerequisite to increase literacy.
He added that the Women’s Literacy Program, which is funded by the United Kingdom has further been extended till 2017.
The program targets 180,000 women and would have great impact in increasing the number of literate women, Mehrdad hoped.
Asadullah Hanif Balkhi, Minister of Education, blamed former government and lack of coordination between Afghanistan and the United Nations for the poor state of literacy in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a gathering in Kabul, the minister added that over recent years the attention by the international community has increased towards literacy programs.
Officials at the ministry, however denied the reports about high number of illiterate women and said that the ministry would focus on women’s literacy programs from now onwards.
ENDS
