Illiteracy rate drops to 5.6%

The total cost of educating a Saudi student at any educational level amounts to SR11,556 a year, Aleqtesadiah, a sister publication of Arab News, found during a study carried out to check the country’s literacy rate.
According to the daily’s research, the state’s education budget for 2013 stood at SR204 billion for over 17.65 million Saudi students, out of which 14.9 percent were illiterate, a significant improvement in education considering that 40 years ago a staggering 40 percent of the population could not read or write.
In terms of total population, the research found that the number of illiterate Saudis of any age stood at 1.16 million people or 5.6 percent, at the end of 2013.
While the study revealed that citizens between 50 and 70 years of age had 40 percent of illiteracy, it proved that the most literate age group was found to be those between 15 and 19 years of age, with only 1.3 percent of teenagers unable to read or write. Young Saudis from 20 to 24 years old followed close, with 2 percent illiteracy rate.
The percentage of citizens studying undergraduate diplomas was 4.2 percent of the total population over the age of 15, with numbers rising at higher education levels. University students make up 16 percent of the population,
while master’s degree programs account for 0.8 percent of the total population. Doctoral students only amount to 0.4 percent of the population.
This expansion of education reflects the efforts of the country’s leadership to erase illiteracy since the 1970s, when the first education system for adults was established and authorities began to stress the need to raise literate generations.
With an increased education budget in recent years, the current cost per student includes educators’ wages, materials such as pens and pencils, books and other required stationery tools, in addition to transportation, desks and other necessities during the education process.