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Palestine Scores One of World's Highest Literacy Rates

In this May 26, 2019 file photo, a teacher supervises while school children attend a final exam during the last day of the school year, at the UNRWA, Hebron Boys School, in the West Bank. (AP)
In this May 26, 2019 file photo, a teacher supervises while school children attend a final exam during the last day of the school year, at the UNRWA, Hebron Boys School, in the West Bank. (AP)
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Palestine Scores One of World's Highest Literacy Rates

In this May 26, 2019 file photo, a teacher supervises while school children attend a final exam during the last day of the school year, at the UNRWA, Hebron Boys School, in the West Bank. (AP)
In this May 26, 2019 file photo, a teacher supervises while school children attend a final exam during the last day of the school year, at the UNRWA, Hebron Boys School, in the West Bank. (AP)

On the occasion of International Literacy Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) published a report saying Palestine has one of the world's highest literacy rates.

Illiteracy rates among Palestinian population aged 15 years and above in Palestine fell in the period from 13.9% in 1997 to 2.8% in 2018, said the PCBS report.

For males, the rate fell from 7.8% in 1997 to 1.3% in 2018, while for females it fell from 20.3% to 4.3% over the same period.

By region, the rate fell from 14.1% in 1997 to 3.0% in 2018 in the West Bank while the rate fell in the Gaza Strip from 13.7% in 1997 to 2.4% over the same period.

The illiteracy rate varies considerably between age groups, where the age group 65 years and above got the highest rate, while the lowest rate was among the age groups 30-44 years and 15-29 years.

In 2018, the illiteracy rate among rural locales reached 3.7% (18,000 illiterate persons), while scored 2.8% in the refugee camps (7,100 illiterate persons) and 2.6% (57,700 illiterate persons) in urban areas. In 2018, the female illiteracy rate was the highest in rural localities, followed by refugee camps and urban areas respectively. Male illiteracy rate did not vary by type of locality.

In 2018, the highest illiteracy rate among persons aged 15 years and above was in the Salfit governorate with 5.4%, followed by Jericho and Al Aghwar with 3.9%. The lowest rate was in Gaza governorate with 2%.

By gender, the highest illiteracy rate among males aged 15 years and above was in Jerusalem governorate with 2.9% while the highest illiteracy rate among females for the same age group was in Salfit with 9.2%.

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China to Launch New Crewed Mission into Space This Week 

The combination of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket is vertically transferred to the launching area in Jiuquan, China, 16 April 2025 (issued 17 April 2025). (EPA/Xinhua / Liu Fang)
The combination of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket is vertically transferred to the launching area in Jiuquan, China, 16 April 2025 (issued 17 April 2025). (EPA/Xinhua / Liu Fang)
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China to Launch New Crewed Mission into Space This Week 

The combination of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket is vertically transferred to the launching area in Jiuquan, China, 16 April 2025 (issued 17 April 2025). (EPA/Xinhua / Liu Fang)
The combination of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket is vertically transferred to the launching area in Jiuquan, China, 16 April 2025 (issued 17 April 2025). (EPA/Xinhua / Liu Fang)

China is expected to launch a new crewed mission into space this week, as Beijing takes steady steps towards its goal of putting astronauts on the Moon.

The Shenzhou-20 mission will blast off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, carrying three astronauts to the country's self-built Tiangong space station for a likely six-month stay.

The team will undertake experiments to further the space program's ambitious aims to place astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and eventually build a lunar base.

The country's space agency said last week that the Shenzhou spaceship and its Long March-2F carrier rocket were transferred to a launch site at the remote desert base and would launch "at an appropriate time in the near future".

Photographs published by the Xinhua state news agency showed the sleek white rocket perched on a blue pedestal festooned with national flags, pointing towards the heavens, with red-and-gold banners hailing China's space program.

"At present, the launch site facilities and equipment are in good condition. The functional inspections and joint tests will be carried out as planned," the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

Authorities have not yet given details on the identities of the Shenzhou-20 astronauts or the work they will carry out.

Zhou Wenxing, a staff member at the country's astronaut training center, said the crew was "in good condition, precise in operation, and smooth in coordination", state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday.

- 'Space dream' -

China's previous crewed mission, Shenzhou-19, launched last October and will reach its planned end date on April 29.

It is headed by Cai Xuzhe, a 48-year-old former air force pilot who served a previous stint aboard the Tiangong space station as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022.

Also among the crew is Wang Haoze, 35, who is China's only female spaceflight engineer and the third Chinese woman to take part in a crewed mission.

Song Lingdong, a 34-year-old man, completes the trio.

The Shenzhou-19 team has been carrying out tests to see how extreme radiation, gravity, temperature and other conditions affect "bricks" made from components imitating lunar soil, according to reports at the time of the launch.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has forged ahead with plans to achieve its "space dream".

Its space program was the third to put humans in orbit and has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon.

The jewel in the crown is Tiangong, the space station staffed by teams of three astronauts that are rotated every six months.

Beijing says it is on track to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030.

In recent decades, the country has poured billions of dollars into developing an advanced space program on par with the United States and Europe.

In 2019, it landed its Chang'e-4 probe on the far side of the Moon -- the first spacecraft ever to do so. In 2021, it landed a small robot on Mars.

Tiangong, whose core module, Tianhe, launched in 2021, is planned to be used for about 10 years.