The Egyptian government and UNESCO today agreed to launch a new national campaign designed to reduce the Egyptian illiteracy rate. The program, dubbed, “Together We Can,” has a goal of reducing the rate to 10 percent by the year 2020. “The new campaign aims to eradicate illiteracy in Egypt using the latest strategies and educational tools in adult education,” said Ghada Gholam, an official at the UNESCO office in Cairo. “The current illiteracy rate in Egypt is a disgrace,” said Egyptian Minister of Education Ahmed Gamal El Din Moussa. “We have an illiteracy rate of up to 27 percent and we do not have real data showing where the problem is most severe.” “Countries similar to Egypt, like Cuba, have succeeded in eradicating illiteracy,” the minister continued, while vowing to build more schools in rural areas where access is limited. Moussa also vowed to reduce the drop-out rate in basic education. “The government cannot alone implement the new national campaign for literacy,” he said. “We agreed with civil society organizations and global institutions like UNESCO to work together and we call on all Egyptians to join us in this fight.”
