TEHRAN – It is planned to eradicate illiteracy over the next three years, Alireza Abdi, head of the Literacy Movement Organization, has announced.

Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 48.8 percent of Iran's population was literate, while about 14.2 million people were illiterate, he said, adding that the literacy rate is now 97 percent, IRNA reported.

According to the latest statistics, there are 1.7 million illiterates in the age group of 10 to 49 years in the country.

The gap between male and female literacy was 23.4 percent, which reached 6 percent, and the gap between urban and rural literacy increased from 36 to 11 percent.

Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 48.8% of Iran's population was literate, while the figure is now 97%.

After the establishment of the organization in 1986, nearly 11 million people were added to the country's literate, and the country's literacy rate increased from 47.5 percent to about 61.8 percent.

Also, 400,000 illiterate people are covered by the Literacy Movement every year, 50 percent of whom are functionally illiterate.

Currently, the number of illiterate people is less than one million. Now, only five out of every 100 Iranians are illiterate.

The number of newly literate people who have studied up to the third grade and do not have a certificate of completion from elementary school is almost 2.5 million people.

In the new era, we have moved towards functional literacy, which means that people read something that matches their work and life requirements, we have printed functional books for farmers, guilds, etc., he explained.

In the next few years, the first mission of the Literacy Movement will end and it must enter a new period of its activities, he stated.

According to the latest statistics, Sistan-Baluchestan, Khuzestan, West Azarbaijan, Lorestan, and Hormozgan have the highest number of illiterate people in the age group of 10-49 years.

According to statistics, about 98.13 percent of school-age children go to schools and less than 2 percent are out of school.

Also, 332,000 foreign nationals are covered by the movement, and in total, 830,000 foreign nationals have become literate.

FB/MG