More than 350,000 people learned to read, write in 2018: Minister

Umut Erdem – ANKARA

Some 358,931 people have learned to read and write as part of the “Mobilization for Literacy” campaign launched by the Education Ministry in February 2018, Education Minister Ziya Selçuk has said in response to a parliamentary question submitted by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Mehmet Ali Çelebi.

According to the figures Selçuk provided, 61,532 literacy courses were launched in 2018.

Of the 662,168 illiterate citizens who attended the courses, 586,307 were women and 75,861 were male.

“Some 358,931 have completed the courses and obtained the ‘Literacy Certification’ by succeeding in the examinations,” said the minister.

Some 319,558 women and 39,373 men have successfully completed and earned the right to obtain literacy certificates.

Selçuk also stressed that within the scope of the mobilization campaign, 943,030 literacy books were published and distributed free-of-charge to attendees.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said the number of illiterate adults in Turkey was 2.3 million in 2017. This figure includes 1.9 million women accounting for 85 percent of the total number.

In February 2018, the “Mobilization for Literacy” campaign was launched to teach adults how to read and write.