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Ethiopia Literacy
Among the revolutionary regime's few successes was the
national literacy campaign. The literacy rate, under 10
percent during the imperial regime, increased to about 63
percent by 1984, according to government figures. Others
sources, however, estimated it at around 37 percent. In
1990/91 an adult literacy rate of just over 60 percent was
still being reported in government as well as in some
international reports. As with the 1984 data, it several
wise to exercise caution with regard to the latest figure.
As some observers pointed out, defining just what the term
"literacy" means presented a problem; in addition, the
military government's desire to report as high a literacy
rate as possible had to be taken into account.
The national literacy campaign began in early 1975 when the
government mobilized more than 60,000 students and teachers,
sending them all over the country for two-year terms of
service. This experience was crucial to the creation in 1979
of the National Literacy Campaign Coordinating Committee
(NLCCC) and a nationwide effort to raise literacy levels.
The government organized the campaign in rounds, which began
in urban centers and spread outward to the remote parts of
the country up to Round 12. Officials originally conducted
the literacy training in five languages: Amharic, Oromo,
Tigrinya, Welamo, and Somali. The number of languages was
later expanded to fifteen, which represented about 93
percent of the population. By the end of Round 12, in the
late 1980s, about 17 million people had been registered, of
whom 12 million had passed the literacy test. Women
represented about half of those enrolled.
According to government sources, about 1.5 million people
eventually worked in the campaign. They included students,
civil servants, teachers, military personnel, housewives,
and members of religious groups, all of whom, it was
claimed, offered their services freely. Adult literacy
classes used primary and secondary school facilities in many
areas. Officials distributed more than 22 million reading
booklets for beginners and more than 9 million texts for
postliteracy participants. The Ministry of Education also
stocked reading centers with appropriate texts. These books
focused on topics such as agriculture, health, and basic
technology. To consolidate the gains from the literacy
campaign, the government offered follow-up courses for
participants up to grade four, after which they could enroll
in the regular school system. In addition, national
newspapers included regular columns for new readers. The
literacy campaign received international acclaim when the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) awarded Ethiopia the International
Reading Association Literacy Prize in 1980.
Data as of 1991
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