September theme

 
Rotary's September theme is Literacy.  International Literacy Day is September 8!
 
 
Rotary supports activities and training to improve education for all children and literacy for children and adults.

The Rotary Foundation enables Rotarians to ensure that all people have sustainable access to basic education and literacy by:
 
  • Involving the community to support programs that strengthen the capacity of communities to provide basic education and literacy to all;
  • Increasing adult literacy in communities;
  • Working to reduce gender disparity in education;
  • Supporting studies for career-minded professionals related to basic education and literacy.
 
 
Of the world population older than 15 years, 86% are literate.
 
In many countries, more than 95% have basic literacy skills. Literacy skills of the majority of the population is a modern achievement.
Globally, however, large inequalities remain, notably between sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world. In Burkina Faso, Niger and South Sudan – the African countries at the bottom of the rank – literacy rates are still below 30%.
 
Literacy is a key skill and a key measure of a population’s education.
 
From a historical perspective, literacy levels for the world population have risen drastically in the last couple of centuries. While only 12% of the people in the world could read and write in 1820, today the share has reversed: only 14% of the world population, in 2016, remained illiterate. Over the last 65 years, the global literacy rate increased by 4% every 5 years – from 42% in 1960 to 86% in 2015.
 
Despite large improvements in the expansion of basic education and the continuous reduction of education inequalities, there are substantial challenges ahead. The poorest countries in the world, where basic education is most likely to be a binding constraint for development, still have very large segments of the population who are illiterate. In Niger, for example, the literacy rate of the youth (15-24 years) is only 36.5%.