Editing Literacy (section)

=== Literacy as a development indicator ===
[[File:Youth and adult literacy rate, 2000–2016 and projections to 2030.svg|thumb|Youth and adult literacy rate, 2000–2016 and projections to 2030]]
The [[Human Development Index]], produced by the [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP), uses education as one of its three indicators. Originally, adult literacy represented two-thirds of this education index weight. In 2010, however, the UNDP replaced the adult literacy measure with mean years of schooling. A 2011 UNDP research paper frames this change as a way to "ensure current relevance", arguing that gains in global literacy already achieved between 1970 and 2010 mean that literacy will be "unlikely to be as informative of the future."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Jeni Klugman |last2=Francisco Rodriguez |last3=Hyung-Jin Choi |date=April 2011 |title=The HDI 2010: New Controversies, Old Critiques |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdrp_2011_01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207085822/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdrp_2011_01.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2016 |website=United Nations Development Programme |page=19}}</ref> Other scholars, however, have since warned against overlooking the importance of literacy as an indicator and goal for development, particularly for marginalized groups such as women and rural populations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stromquist |first=Nelly |date=17 March 2016 |title=Adult Literacy and Women: A Present Account |url=http://journals.uncc.edu/index.php/DSJ/article/view/506 |journal=Dialogues in Social Justice |volume=1 |issue=1|doi=10.55370/dsj.v1i1.506 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The [[World Bank]], along with the [[UNESCO Institute for Statistics]], has developed the Learning Poverty concept and an associated measure that measures the proportion of students who are unable to read and understand a simple story by age 10. In low- and middle-income countries, 53% of children are "learning-poor", as are up to 80% of children in poor countries.<ref name="Learning-Poverty">{{Cite web |title=Learning Poverty is a combined measure of schooling and learning. |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/what-is-learning-poverty |access-date=2021-07-01 |website=World Bank}}</ref> In fact, these new measures indicate that these high rates of illiteracy are an "early warning sign that [[Sustainable Development Goal 4|SDG 4]] for education and all related global goals are in jeopardy."<ref name="Learning-Poverty" /> Current progress in improving literacy rates is seen as much too slow to meet the SDG goals, as at the current rate, approximately 43% of children will still be learning poorly by 2030.<ref name="Learning-Poverty" />

The [[Programme for International Student Assessment]] (PISA) assesses children on reading and math skills at age 15. PISA-D encourages and facilitates PISA testing in low- and middle-income countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PISA for Development |url=https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-for-development/ |access-date=2021-07-01 |website=www.oecd.org}}</ref> In 2019, "PISA-D results reveal exceptionally low scores for participating countries. Only 23 percent of students tested achieved the minimum level of proficiency in reading, compared with 80 percent of OECD."<ref name="PISAD-2019">{{Cite web |date=30 January 2019 |title=PISA-D Reveals Exceptionally Low Learning |url=https://riseprogramme.org/blog/PISA-D_low_learning |access-date=2021-07-01 |website=RISE Programme }}</ref> Minimum proficiency requires students to "read 'simple and familiar texts and understand them literally', as well as demonstrating some ability to connect pieces of information and draw inferences."<ref name="PISAD-2019" /> 

The [[Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies]] (PIAAC) assesses literacy, [[numeracy]] and [[problem solving]] for working age population ages 16 to 65.<ref name="PIAAC"/>