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2015 Literacy Rates - ranking of 61 countries




The Washington Post published the latest ranking of countries according to their literacy rates. In first position is Finland. President of the Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut, in America, John W. Miller, conducted the study of global literacy rates and ranked them according to countries. In collaboration with Central Connecticut’s Center for Public Policy and Social Research, Miller analyzed 61 countries.

To determine the rankings, Miller’s team reviewed the scores on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). To overcome student test performance bias, the study incorporated 15 variables grouped in 5 categories: libraries, newspapers, education system inputs, education system outputs, and computer availability, as well as population and per capita ratios.

Nordic countries were the most literate. Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden were the top five countries. The United States, ranked 7, was the only non-European country in the top 10. Canada ranked 11, France 12, Australia 16, United Kingdom 17, and Botswana 61.





MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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