The Government is in the process of conducting a National Literacy Survey to establish the levels of literacy amongst Kenyans.
This will be the second national literacy survey in ten years.
The Director for Adult and Continuing Education (DACE) Irreneous Kinara said the first Kenya National Literacy Survey (KNALS) survey was conducted in 2006.
It showed that 7.8 million (38.5%) of the adult population was illiterate, while Kenyans aged between 15 and 19 years had 69.1 per cent literacy rate.
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The report was conducted between June and August 2006 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KEBS) and the Department of Adult Education, UNESCO, in Nairobi.
Latest statistics from the World Bank show that Kenya’s adult literacy levels stood at 79 per cent in 2014 while the average global adult literacy level stood at 86 per cent as at 2016.
Zimbabwe had the highest levels in Africa at 89 per cent during the same year.
Kinara said the planned survey aims at determining the magnitude, levels and distribution of adult literacy for persons aged 15 years and above.
He said the survey seeks to obtain comprehensive data and information on adult literacy education institutions and providers and identifying issues of concern which need to be addressed in the promotion of adult literacy.
Kinara spoke on Friday at a Nairobi hotel during a validation workshop on a report on adult and continuing education in West Pokot County.
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