International Literacy Day: Tamale has 123,455 illiterates; the highest of all districts in the country – GSS

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has disclosed that 10% of the illiterate population in Ghana is concentrated in nine of the 261 districts.

Data from the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) indicates that only nine of the 261 districts account for more than a tenth (10.4%) of the 7.9 million illiterate persons 6 years and older.

According to the data, Tamale Metropolitan Assembly is the district with the highest number of illiterates in the country.

“These districts are Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (123,455), Nanumba North Municipal (100,046), East Mamprusi Municipal (98,293), Sagnarigu Municipal (94,006), Gushegu Municipal (92,056), West Mamprusi Municipal (82,262), Central Gonja (81,261), Ketu South Municipal (76,082), and Bawku West (74,798). In all, these nine districts combined have 822,259 persons 6 years and older who are not literate i.e., cannot read and write with understanding in any language,” part of a release from GSS to mark International Literacy Day revealed.

International Literacy Day is commemorated annually on 8th September to raise awareness of the importance of literacy.

The theme for the 2023 International Literacy Day is “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies.”

Data from the 2021 PHC indicates that one in every five districts (53 out of the 261) had at least half of the population 6 years and older being illiterate. The percent illiterate was highest in the Karaga district (81.0%) followed by the Gushegu Municipal (80.7%), and North East Gonja (80.3%) districts. Six districts had more than three-quarters of the population 6 years and older that was illiterate.

Nine out of the 16 regions had at least one district that had more than half of its population 6 years and older that was illiterate: Northern (14), Upper West (10), Upper East (8), Savannah (6), North East (5), Bono East (4), Oti (4), Eastern (1), and Ashanti (1).

There were 15 districts with less than 10.0 percent of the population that was illiterate.

All except one of these 15 districts were in the Greater Accra Region and Ashanti is the only region to have a district with an illiteracy rate of less than 10.0 percent (Kwadaso Municipal) and a district with an illiteracy rate greater than 50.0 percent (Sekyere Afram Plains).

The district with the lowest illiteracy rate was Ayawaso West Municipal (5.9%), followed by La Dade-Kotopon Municipal (6.1%), and Tema West Municipal (6.2%).