Giant Strides In Canarian Literacy
More than 50,000 people in the Canary Islands cannot read or write, according to a 2007 study by the Canaries Institute of Statistics.
The figures are taken from a survey of the more than 1.7 million people over the age of 16, which found that 53,430 of them were illiterate.
Not surprisingly perhaps, the larger islands, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, ended bottom of the class with 26,574 and 19,448 illiterate adults respectively.
For Tenerife, the figures point to a 4 per cent illiteracy rate, while in Gran Canaria the figure is put at 3 per cent
However in La Gomera, with a much smaller population, the rate is a whopping 6 per cent.
But if the figures are anything to go by, the education system has, and is, improving dramatically.
Well over half, 31,840, of those who cannot read or write are over 65, almost 11,000 men and more than 20,000 women, many of whom would not have had the opportunity to learn, enjoyed by today’s students.
They are followed by the 45 to 65-year-olds who account for 12,043 of the total, while just over 6,500 people between the ages of 31 and 45 are illiterate.
The encouraging news is that among the 16 to 30 age group, the number of people without basic reading and writing skills drops to just under 3,000, illustrating the giant strides forward made in the Canarian education system.