Ghana joined the rest of the world on September 8 to celebrate International Literacy Day, which is aimed at raising awareness of the importance of literacy.
The theme for the 2023 International Literacy Day is “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies.”
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said in a statement that only nine of the 261 districts account for more than 10% of the 7.9 million illiterate people aged 6 years and older.
“Data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) indicates that only nine of the 261 districts account for more than a tenth (10.4%) of the 7.9 million illiterate persons 6 years and older. Four of the nine districts are in the Northern Region, two in the North East Region, and one each in the Savannah, Volta, and Upper East regions. These districts are Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (123,455), Nanumba North Municipal (100,046), East Mamprusi Municipal (98,293), Sagnarigu Municipal (94,006), Gushegu Municipal (92,056), West Mamprusi Municipal (82,262), Central Gonja (81,261), Ketu South Municipal (76,082), and Bawku West (74,798)”.
The GSS also stated that Ashanti is the only region to have a district with an illiteracy rate of less than 10%, while Ayawaso West Municipal (5.9%) had the lowest illiteracy rate.
“There were 15 districts with less than 10.0 percent of the population that was illiterate. All except one of these 15 districts were in the Greater Accra Region and Ashanti is the only region to have a district with an illiteracy rate of less than 10.0 percent (Kwadaso Municipal) and a district with an illiteracy rate greater than 50.0 percent (Sekyere Afram Plains).”
“The district with the lowest illiteracy rate was Ayawaso West Municipal (5.9%), followed by La Dade-Kotopon Municipal (6.1%), and Tema West Municipal (6.2%)”.