Posted by
General Manager, Citizenship & Public Affairs, Microsoft
Regardless of how you look at it, the literacy challenge we face today might be one of the largest yet most silent. The statistics tell the story – currently, one out of every four adults worldwide – or 793 million – is functionality illiterate. Compounding the challenge, we face a worldwide shortage of 1.7 million primary teachers, and a dangerous scarcity of the appropriate skills, resources and support materials needed to address it. Even in developed countries, illiteracy is a problem. For example, 1 in 3 children in the United Kingdom do not own a book, and in some underserved areas of the United States, the ratio of children to books is 19 children to one book, whereas children in more advantaged areas each have an average of 13 books.
The literacy challenge for girls is especially acute. An estimated 75 million girls are absent from school classrooms daily, causing a myriad of learning shortfalls. Five hundred million school-aged girls will never complete their education. Child marriage and child labor further exacerbates the problem. Despite this, we see youth around the world rising to the challenge and fighting for their right to be literate and to have access to education.
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