A Quiet Literacy Revolution — Hidden by a Mathematical Reality
The data on female literacy by age in Pakistan tells two stories at once.
📊 On one hand:
~80–85% of girls aged 12–18 can read a simple sentence with understanding
~70% among 18–24
A steady decline with age:
~60% (25–30)
~40% (40–50)
<20% (65+)
This is a clear generational improvement.
But here’s the part we often miss:
The “low overall literacy rate” is partly a mathematical reality
Even if younger women are far more literate, older, less-literate cohorts still make up a large share of the population.
So when we calculate a single national literacy rate:
It averages high literacy (young) with low literacy (older generations)
The result: progress gets statistically diluted
Source : Gallup Pakistan Digital Analytics dashboard based on LFS 2024 . Access dashboard here
https://lnkd.in/dU447MAV