中国成人文盲人数仍排世界前列(图)

　　联合国教科文组织本周二发布的一份报告称，在全世界文盲率最高的十个国家中，中国的成人文盲数位列第八，这十个国家的成人文盲总数约占全世界文盲总数的72%。中国拥有世界上最大的教育体系，同时还是人口最多的发展中国家，虽然中国一直致力于全民扫盲工作，但是成人文盲数量仍然在世界前列。中国近几年在降低失学率方面取得了显著进步，但是不断加大的城乡教育差距同时也在阻碍整体教育水平的提高。

　　International concern has grown over the illiteracy and educationinequality found in China, said a senior official of the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Tuesday。

　　"Although China has maintained strong progress toward universaladult literacy, its illiterate population is still one of the biggest inthe world," Tang Qian, assistant director-general for the educationsector under the UNESCO, told China Daily during a forum in Beijing onTuesday。

　　"China has the biggest educational system in the world and largestpopulation among developing countries," he said. "So when China makesprogress, the resulting statistics for the world are impressive."

　　China, when gauged according to the numbers of its citizens who areilliterate adults, ranks as the eighth worst among ten sample countriesselected from around the world, according to a report released byUNESCO on Tuesday。

　　Around 72 percent of the illiterate adults in the world live in theten countries, which were chosen from 128 countries, according to thereport。

　　Across the planet, nearly 796 million adults lack basic literacy,making up about 17 percent of the world's adult population, according tothe latest data from the UNESCO。

　　The vast majority of them live in South and West Asia andsub-Saharan Africa, although Arab states also have high levels of adultilliteracy, said the report。

　　"China has made rapid advances in cutting down the numbers ofschool drop-outs in recent years," according to Yuan Guiren, minister ofeducation。

　　For example, about 80 percent of Chinese were illiterate in 1949,while the figure fell to less than 3.5 percent in 2010, he said。

　　"The country also has topped the world in its number of people whohave received higher education, which has increased about 265 timesduring the past 60 years," he said。

　　Tang said at Tuesday's forum that "wider education inequalitiesbetween rural and urban regions are restricting opportunities in China",although this obstacle is not only present in China. Chinese expertswarned that the low quality of the schooling offered in many rural areasis making it difficult for students from such places to be admitted touniversities。

　　Only about one in five students at China's leading universitiescome from rural areas, according to the 21st Century Education ResearchInstitute。

　　But the country has no official statistics showing how many ruralstudents study in China's universities, a senior official of Ministry ofEducation said on Tuesday。

　　"The rapid urbanization makes it hard to count the total number ofrural students studying in universities," said Li Yanli, a statisticsofficial with the ministry。