Türkiye reports major progress in adult literacy
More than one million elderly people in Türkiye have learned to read and write since 2018 through courses organized as part of an initiative launched by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife, Emine Erdogan. Of them, 471,734 are women, Anadolu Agency reported.
The figures were released by Türkiye’s Ministry of National Education on the occasion of International Literacy Day, observed on September 8 under a UNESCO initiative, CE Report quotes BTA.
In addition to teaching illiterate individuals to read and write, the courses offer a second level designed to provide knowledge equivalent to primary education. Participants learn to speak Turkish well, acquire basic mathematics skills, and gain knowledge about their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
More than 100,000 people have enrolled in the courses in 2026 alone. Nearly two million people have registered since 2018, but 1,017,631 have completed the programme and received certificates. A total of 744,303 participants completed only the first level, while another 273,328 went on to the second level.
According to the data, the number of illiterate people aged over 15 in Türkiye stood at 2,330,640 in 2017, the year before the courses began. In 2018, that figure fell to 2,197,257.
As part of the programme, 65 video lessons were produced, along with three curricula and six educational materials, all of which were distributed to participants free of charge.
Photo: Chat GPT
