Education is one of the means to eradicate illiteracy and give the opportunity, especially to women, to improve the quality of their life.

International Literacy Day

UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Education) has declared September 8 as the International Literacy Day as an effort and a commitment to eradicate illiteracy around the world. Following this commitment, the Indonesian government has sought several solutions and innovations to improve literacy skills among the community and to reduce the illiteracy rates.

The Literacy Rate in Indonesia

For the past few years, several studies have been conducted and the results show that Indonesia has been one of the countries with the lowest literacy rate. The lower the literacy rate, the lower the quality of the human resources, which may increase the poverty cycle.  

The illiteracy rate, unfortunately, is dominated by women, following the limited access to education for women in certain areas. As a consequence, women are more vulnerable to early marriage and human trafficking. Also, they are more prone to contract HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Education for Women to Fight Illiteracy

Education is one of the means to fight illiteracy and as an effort to stop the poverty cycle. In addition, giving better access to education to women will not only improve the quality of human resources in Indonesia but also the quality of the next generation which comes from an educated mother.