40% of Ugandans illiterate, says RAU
THE Reading Association of Uganda (RAU) on Thursday said over 40% of Ugandans cannot read and write.
By Geresom Musamali
THE Reading Association of Uganda (RAU) on Thursday said over 40% of Ugandans cannot read and write.
RAU said this compares unfavourably with other countries like Botswana, where 24% of the population is illiterate.
RAU general secretary Loy Tumusiime said 54% of Ugandans can read and write, adding that the high illiteracy rate was a critical matter that urgently needed to be addressed if the country was to develop.
Tumusiime, who is also a co-shareholder of Fountain Publishers, was speaking at the end of the planning workshop at Hotel Equatoria for the Third Pan-African Conference on Reading scheduled for August 18 in Kampala.
Other members of the planning workshop included Makerere University lecturer Isaac Ssetuba, Kyambogo University lecturer Sam Andama, Jennifer Bowser from the International Reading Association headquarters in Washington and representatives from Botswana and Nigeria.
Tumusiime said the forthcoming conference would draw about 800 delegates, including 100 teachers from Uganda and 50 each from Kenya and Tanzania.
She said the conference would run concurrently with the National Book Trust of Uganda annual Book Week. It will discuss how to revamp the reading culture.
Tumusiime also said Universal Primary Education had crippled rather than enhanced the reading culture.
THE Reading Association of Uganda (RAU) on Thursday said over 40% of Ugandans cannot read and write.
RAU said this compares unfavourably with other countries like Botswana, where 24% of the population is illiterate.
RAU general secretary Loy Tumusiime said 54% of Ugandans can read and write, adding that the high illiteracy rate was a critical matter that urgently needed to be addressed if the country was to develop.
Tumusiime, who is also a co-shareholder of Fountain Publishers, was speaking at the end of the planning workshop at Hotel Equatoria for the Third Pan-African Conference on Reading scheduled for August 18 in Kampala.
Other members of the planning workshop included Makerere University lecturer Isaac Ssetuba, Kyambogo University lecturer Sam Andama, Jennifer Bowser from the International Reading Association headquarters in Washington and representatives from Botswana and Nigeria.
Tumusiime said the forthcoming conference would draw about 800 delegates, including 100 teachers from Uganda and 50 each from Kenya and Tanzania.
She said the conference would run concurrently with the National Book Trust of Uganda annual Book Week. It will discuss how to revamp the reading culture.
Tumusiime also said Universal Primary Education had crippled rather than enhanced the reading culture.