The difference in literacy rate between urban and rural areas has decreased from 34.9 percent in 1976 to about 12 percent in 2019, which demonstrates a significant rise in the literacy rate of rural areas.
According to the censuses conducted between 1976 and 2016, the literacy rate of urban areas has increased from 65.5 percent to 99.8 percent. At the same time, the literacy rate in rural areas has increased from 30.5 percent to 78.5 percent.
Moreover, the country’s population aged 6 and above was estimated at 71.5 million, of which more than 62 million declared themselves literate and over 8 million were illiterate. Accordingly, the literacy rate has increased from 47.5 percent in 1976 to 87.6 percent in 2016, which reached up to 89 percent in 2019.
Currently, 26 percent of the country’s population lives in villages, Mohammad Omid, the vice president for rural development, said, adding that around 39,000 villages have more than 20 households and 23,000 villages have less than 20 households.
Thus, more than 97 percent of the country’s rural population lives in villages with over 20,000 households, he added.
The share of rural employment in the country has increased from 5 percent to 30 percent, which is valuable, and in addition, the rural unemployment rate has declined from 8.7 to 7.3 percent, which has reduced the rural unemployment rate by 1.4 percent, he further emphasized.
Gender gap in literacy has decreased
The allocation of about 80 percent of literacy activities to girls and women, especially in rural areas, has led to a faster increase in the female literacy index.
The results of the census show that the difference in literacy rates between men and women has decreased from 23.4 percent in 1976 to 6.8 percent in 2016, which decreased to less than 6.5 in 2019.
The literacy rate among Iranians between 10-49 years is estimated at 98.2 percent, while the uneducated population of the same age is about 190,500, and also the population aged 10-29 years is reported to have a literacy rate of 97.3 percent, and 668,800 uneducated individuals.
Moreover, the literacy rate of the last group aging 10-49 is about 97.4 percent, while some 2.6 billion of them are illiterate.
Some 50 percent of the activities of the Literacy Movement Organization is focused on literacy empowerment so that there is no return to illiteracy.
Tehran times