Profile of literacy among ethnic minority peoples

Depending on how one counts and classifies, ethnic minorities make up between 10 and 20 percent of the world's population. On purely statistical grounds, one would expect the distribution of literacy in this population to be similar to that of the worldwide profile. The following graph shows that this is not the case.

The above graph shows the pattern of literacy (in any and all languages) among a large sample (1,600) of the world's minority peoples. The six categories on the bottom axis represent group-wide estimates of literacy. For example, if a group in the sample had an estimated average literacy rate of 20 percent, that group is one of the 400+ in the 15-25 percent category.

This data takes the pattern of a rough bell curve with its apex at about 21 or 22 percent. This profile is markedly different from that for all the countries of the world. For example, the average worldwide literacy rate is 73 percent compared with just 22 percent for the world's minority peoples.

It follows, then, that if the population of a country is made up of a high percentage of ethnic peoples speaking lesser-known languages, then that country is likely to have a very low literacy rate. The list of countries with the lowest literacy rates confirms this reality.

The graph above indicates literacy in the mother tongue among speakers of minority languages.

The overall literacy profile for this group is almost opposite that of the countries of the world. Worldwide, most countries are found in the 75-100 percent category. Among minority peoples, however, most groups are in the 0-1 percent category of literacy.

This striking contrast is a clear statement that minority peoples are being widely left out of progress toward literacy.

• Fact module: Profile of literacy among ethnic minority peoples
• In overview module: General literacy statistics, by Stephen L. Walter
• In overview module: The big picture in literacy, by Stephen L. Walter
• In modular book: Prepare for a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter, Mary Morgan, and Leah B. Walter
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 1 October 1999

© 1999 SIL International