TUNIS, Jan 16: Although overall illiteracy rates have been falling in Arab countries, rising populations mean that the total number of people unable to either read or write continues to increase , a report produced by an Arab League body devoted to education and culture said.

The report, an internal document of the Arab League Education, Science and Culture Organization (ALESCO) that was obtained by AFP, said that some 70 million people aged over 15 in League member countries were unable to read or write.

It expressed regret that a goal to halve the numbers of illiterate people between 1990 and 2000 had not been achieved, and said that on current trends it would take three decades to completely eliminate the problem.

The document also said that almost half of women in the countries concerned - 46.5 per cent - were unable to read or write, as against a rate of 25.1 per cent amongst men. The report noted however that as a percentage of total populations, the average level of illiteracy in Arab League states had fallen enormously over the past 35 years.

The overall rate had stood at 73 per cent in 1970, but it had fallen to 48.7 per cent in 1990 and was now down to 35.6 percent, the report said. In absolute numbers, however, there were some 50 million illiterates in 1970, rising to 61 million 20 years later and now to an expected 70 million this year.

However the report also asserted that the average rate today was higher than for sub-Saharan African countries, which it estimated at 34.6 per cent. Unsurprisingly the report found that illiteracy rates were much higher in Arab countries with large populations and relatively high levels of poverty, such as Egypt - which alone was estimated to have 17 million illiterate citizens - Algeria, Morocco, Sudan and Yemen.

Small, oil-rich Gulf states such as Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait scored best, as did the Palestinian territories. -AFP