TEHRAN – The Literacy Movement Organization of Iran has so far provided more than 1.3 million prisoners and armed forces with literacy programs.

The Organization, which was established on December 28, 1979, has held literacy courses for around 800,000 prisoners and 500,000 armed forces, head of the Organization, Shapour Mohammadzadeh, said on Tuesday.

In addition to illiterate armed forces, the plan also covers prisoners between 10 and 60 years of age, he added, IRNA reported.

In January, Mohammadzadeh said the rate of literacy among Iranians between 10-49 years has reached 96.6 percent.

“Before the [1979] Islamic Revolution, according to a census conducted in 1976, over 51 percent of the people were illiterate.”

Over the past four decades, in the Iranian calendar year 1395 (March 2016-March 2017), the average literacy rate in the age group of 10 to 49 has reached 94.7 percent, he noted.

“In deprived areas, we will cover up to 70 percent of the education cost, and all our efforts are to solve the problem of illiteracy across the country,” he highlighted.

MG