State of Literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa
The International
Literacy Day (ILD) is marked each year on 8 September as a day of reflection,
re-thinking and re-imagination on matters related to literacy at all levels,
global, regional, national, and local. On the occasion of the 2019 ILD, it is important
to take stock of the state of literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As a
region, SSA has been saddled with multiple and complex challenges when it comes
to the field of literacy.
Sub-Saharan Africa
has one-seventh of the world population. Yet it accounts for over a quarter of
illiterate adults and nearly half of illiterate youth worldwide. According to
the latest available data (2015) SSA is home to 203.4 million adults (15 years
and above) who lack basic literacy skills. The data also indicates that SSA had
not been part of the impressive improvements in literacy rates recorded by most
countries in all other regions between 1990 and 2015. In fact, the number of
illiterate adults in SSA rose steadily, increasing from 142 million in 1990 to
166 million in 2000, a 17% increase. By 2015, an additional 37.2 million, a
22.4% increase, had been added to the teeming illiterate population.
Statistics
pertaining to youth literacy has been particularly worrisome. Nearly 50% of the
illiterate youth worldwide hail from SSA. What is more, the number of young
Africans lacking basic literacy skills has been increasing since 1990, the only
region in the world saddled with this peculiar affliction. Ironically, the
illiterate population in SSA is concentrated in a few countries, including some
of the biggest (in terms of population) and richest countries in the region. SSA
also lags behind other regions in key indicators pertaining to quality and
equity. Disparities based on gender, location and income have been endemic,
deep and persistent, with the poor, girls, women and those in remote rural
areas being disproportionately disadvantaged. Girls and women account for over
two-thirds of the 203 million illiterate adults in SSA. Some countries do no
even feature in regional and global data on literacy. These include countries
like Djibouti, South Sudan, and Somalia and to some extent Democratic Republic
of Congo. Most of the countries in this category are blighted by protracted social
strife and violent conflicts.
Economic and Social Cost of Illiteracy
The economic and social cost of illiteracy is
huge, corrosive, and immensely debilitating. Its destructive impacts are wide
and far-reaching, cutting across all critical sectors of development.
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Economic and Social Cost of
Illiteracy
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Economic
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Lost
earnings and limited employability
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Lost
business productivity
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Lost
wealth creation opportunities
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Lower
technology skills capacity
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Social
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Poor
health, poor quality of life & rising health costs
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Crime,
including massive upshot in juvenile delinquency
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Increased
& disabling dependency on welfare & charity
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Rapid
increase of out-of-school children, drop-outs, gender-based inequality
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Source:
World Literacy Foundation (2015)
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Two more recent,
ominous and heavily consequential afflictions could also be linked to the high
cost of illiteracy: youth radicalization
and extremism and the tragic specter of African youth heading to Europe in
droves, putting their safety and life in great danger in the perilous journey
across the Sahara or in the treacherous waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
The World
Literacy Foundation (WLF) estimates the annual cost of illiteracy to the global
economy at $1.2 trillion. At the national level, aggregate figures vary
greatly, depending on a wide range of factors. A developing country on average
looses 0.5% of its GDP yearly due to illiteracy. This will translate to the
following estimated annual losses for Angola ($500 million), Sudan ($381
million), Tanzania ($250 million), and Ethiopia ($288 million). Data is not
available for Nigeria and D R of Congo. The WLF underscores that these
estimates are quite conservative, and the actual cost of illiteracy is likely
to be much higher.
Future Prospects
SSA’s prospect
for achieving significant gains or a quick turn-around in youth and adult
literacy any time soon is equally challenging. African governments have
committed themselves to the Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and its ambitious and ubiquitous 17 goals.
Africa has also adopted its own, region-specific Agenda 2063 the Africa We Want. Both
frameworks envisage and promise a radically different future in the coming
twelve years, a future free of the epidemic of multiple and lethal afflictions
bedeviling the world we live in today. And last year, African leaders secured a
three-year $60 billion funding pledge from China for the continent’s
development during the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Unfortunately, education, specially adult literacy, does not seem to matter
much in the three grand development schemes both in terms of priority
hierarchy and actual resource/investment portfolio.
However, given
the region’s track record during the Education for All (EFA) and Millennium
Development Goals (MDGS) era, SSA’s capacity and readiness to meet the 2030 SDG
and Agenda 63 literacy targets fully and timely are, at best, limited.
According to UNESCO, due to a host of formidable challenges specific to it,
Sub-Saharan Africa “cannot be expected to reach universal youth literacy rates
by 2030 if current trends continue.” Ensuring that “current trends” do NOT
continue is therefore a matter of utmost priority and urgency and an important
first step towards a comprehensive review and substantive improvement of the
bleak literacy landscape in SSA.
The prospects of
any country managing a meaningful, inclusive and sustainable economic takeoff
any time soon are flimsy, given the debilitating levels of adult and youth
literacy currently afflicting the continent. There is not any definitive
historical precedent. This does not mean that the challenges of illiteracy are
insurmountable. However, the promise of quality literacy for all Africans will
continue to remain elusive if existing development architecture in the
continent does not change, soon.
Suggestions for Re-vitalizing the
State of Literacy in SSA
Mobilizing higher education assets and capabilities: The potential
of higher education institutions in Africa to serve as a critical vehicle for
economic and social transformation has been recognized. More importantly, many
countries in SSA have
huge and well-established higher education systems, including a large number of
universities. In some countries, there are myriad higher education institutions
in each region, and even at district level. Most are public institutions that
receive their funding from state coffers.
The higher education systems
in SSA constitute a huge repertoire of assets, capabilities, and networks that could
play a critical role in moving the literacy agenda forward. The resources that
could be mobilized and deployed in support of adult and youth literacy and
basic skills, include the following:
§ Physical infrastructure: lecture rooms, conference halls, theatres,
recreational facilities, hostels, prayer facilities.
§ Human
Resources: academic staff with a wide range of knowledge and specialized
technical expertise, students, alumni.
§ Research:
expertise in both basic and applied research, and elaborate research
infrastructure, including libraries, teaching hospitals, extension
(agriculture) facilities.
§ IT,
ICT, Media, and audio-visual facilities: Many higher education
institutions, especially open universities, have extensive and expansive
communication, media, and audio/visual facilities and networks with
capabilities to reach remote rural areas.
§ Libraries and publishing assets.
Higher education institutions
also have a great deal of prestige and influence, including, intellectual and
cultural capital, political clout, good offices, and extensive network of
prominent and influential figures or patrons. These assets bestow on
universities an enormous power to mobilize political commitment and financial
resources, coupled with a huge potential to influence public opinion and policy
debate and dialogue.
Historically this
great potential has not been adequately tapped and effectively deployed in
connection with the critical issues of youth adult literacy and basic skills. Of
course, not all is well with the higher education landscape in SSA. The myriad,
persistent and complex challenges confronting the sector are known and well
documented. At the same time, it would be a mistake to underestimate, ignore,
or dismiss existing opportunities.
Curbing corruption and Embezzlement: The scourge of
corruption and embezzlement has robbed African children of their rights and
futures. An international cabal comprising internal usurpers and external
predators has stolen African resources on an unprecedented scale. The numbers
involved are truly staggering. In one country in which I worked, ‘big thieves’
eat up an estimated 60 percent of the education funds allocated annually by the
state right away. Another 20 percent is divided among ‘small thieves.’ This
means only 20 percent of the yearly education budget goes to the education
system. This is however dwarfed by the massive looting by multinational
corporations and associated shady networks. The business of plundering domestic
resources and at the same time perpetually lobbying and begging for
international aid is not sustainable. This must stop. Now. The future of Africa
and its teeming youth depend on this.
Harnessing ICT technologies and innovations: With the rapid
and profoundly transformative developments and innovations in ICTs, the minimum
required literacy threshold could be achieved easier, faster and cheaper than
any other time in history. However, this requires enlightened leadership
supported by informed policy formulators and committed and competent technical
experts. Higher education institutions could play a critical role in this
endeavor. There is evidence of some good beginnings in some parts of Africa. It
is important to build on these positive developments and move quicker and on a
bigger scale if Africa is to achieve the ambitious literacy targets outlined in
SDGs and Agenda 2063. Time is NOT on Africa’s side.
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