Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006: Education for All Global Literacy for Life (Education on the Move)

[director, Nicholas Burnett]. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 424-444). Annotation The 2006 EFA Global Monitoring Report, maps the global literacy challenge, drawing attention to new methods for measuring it more accurately. It analyses how societies have attained widespread literacy before critically examining national strategies and international commitments aimed at achieving this goal. Although adult literacy rates doubled in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab States and South and West Asia from 1970 to 2000, the rate of progress has slowed considerably since 1990, according to the report. If present trends continue, only 86% of the world's adults will be literate by 2015, up from 82% today. Reflecting deep-seated gender inequalities in many societies, women account for 64% of the adults worldwide who cannot read or write with understanding. This figure remains virtually unchanged from 63% in 1990. Every year, the EFA Global Monitoring Report assesses where the world stands on its commitment to provide a basic education to all children, youth and adults by 2015. Its developed by an independent team and published by UNESCO, with the UIS as a key member of the EFA monitoring team, providing statistical annexes and analysis which lay the foundations for the report Some 770 million adults -- about one-fifth of the world's adult population -- do not have basic literacy skills. The Report makes a case that literacy is a right in itself, essential to achieve all the EFA (Education for All) goals and critically important for development. The report confirms that the goal to achieve gender parity in primary and secondary education by 2005 was not met, despite very rapid progress, especially in a number of low-income countries. On the other hand, resources for basic education increased: public spending on education rose in developing countries and the international community promised to increase its support, especially to sub-Saharan Africa, as reflected at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles in July 2005 and the United Nations World Summit in New York in September 2005.--Publisher description