4. What is literacy and why is it important?
DEFINITION
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create,
communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling
individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."
In simple words, literacy is the ability to:
1. Read
2. Write
3. Use numbers
4. Handle information
5. Express ideas and opinions
6. Make decisions
7. Solve problems
IMPORTANCE
Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on
literacy.
Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving
gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy. There are good reasons why literacy is at the core of Education for
All (EFA).
A good quality basic education equips pupils with literacy skills for life and further learning; literate parents are more likely to send their children to
school; literate people are better able to access continuing educational opportunities; and literate societies are better geared to meet pressing
development .
5. Illiteracy in India
Every issue that our society faces is like a link of a chain. Each issue is connected to another, either directly or indirectly. The
chain of issues in this society that we live in, the strongest link of that chain is illiteracy. Illiteracy is the mother of all issues as it
gives birth to many other issues like poverty, unemployment, child labour, female foeticide, population burst and many more.
It is very hard to digest that the land of the Vedas is one of the countries with the highest illiteracy levels and shows the inability
of our government to utilize programs like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and National Literacy Mission. Even countries like Sri Lanka,
Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and the like have achieved, in lesser time, a much better percentage of literacy. Literacy is a
reasonably good indicator of development in a society.
Spread and diffusion of literacy is generally associated with essential trait of today‟s civilization such as modernization,
urbanization, industrialization, communication and commerce. This fact can be clarified as all the developed countries like
America and Canada have very low illiteracy rates, whereas countries like India, Turkey and Iran have a very high rate of
illiteracy. World Bank studies have established the direct and functional relationship between literacy and productivity on the
one hand and literacy and the overall quality of human life on the other.
Illiteracy in India is characterized by wide gaps between the urban and rural populations. The rural population depends mainly
on agriculture and the rate of illiteracy is high, while the urban population is more of the „employee class‟ and also more
educated. Even amongst the male and female population, there is a wide disparity in literacy. The male literacy rate is 75.96%
and female literacy rate is 54.28%. The social system in India promotes education for the male gender while the female
population, especially in the deep interiors of the country, is kept away from schools.
The Supreme Court in its 1993 ruling held that children had a fundamental right to free education. Ex – President A.P.J Abdul
Kalam gave his assent to the Constitution (83rd Amendment) Bill, 2000, and the “right to education” was incorporated in the
Constitution as a fundamental right. The country had failed to implement the provisions of Article 45, providing for compulsory
and free education of children up to 14 years of age within 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution.
6. Here are some facts about different states
literacy rate.
• Kerala is the only state in India to have
100% literacy rate. It is followed by Goa,
Tripura, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, and
Maharashtra, Sikkim.
• The lowest literacy rate in India is seen in the
state of Bihar.
• We also need to think why is the literacy
rate is low here in India compared to other
developed countries. Basically the
population in India is very high. Being the
7th largest country its population stands 2nd
in the world after China. There are over 1
billion people in India.
• The number of schools and educational
centers especially in rural areas is less. Even
today many people are below the poverty
line.
• Also people aren't aware that children
should get free education according to the
law.
7. India is a vast country with a large population of about 65 crores. About 90 per cent of the people live in villages so the topic of rural education in India is
of utmost importance.
India fails to recognize and learn about the benefits of education with so many countries playing as important lessons. The goalpost of free and
compulsory education to all till the age of 14 has been shifting since 1960.
Its commonly heard during every poll that youth are the future, they should be empowered etc. yet the Indian government has failed to show any
considerable improvement in the child literacy rates.
The reasons why literacy rates are so poor include the dismal state of the school building, poor teaching aids, demotivated teachers, reluctant parents,
and scared children. The rate of torture in the schools on rural areas is so high that it acts as a detrimental force towards the child attending schools.
Even school enrolment does not necessarily translate into school attendance. There is lack of accountability a teacher faces, hence enjoying a soft
constraint. There are incentives for inefficiency, as rewards are not result based but based upon the experience.
India Needs Education, Especially Rural
Education
The importance of education is not hidden. An educated person is better equipped to participate in
the modern economy and society. He can overcome the vulnerability and marginalization in modern
society and makes the citizen more aware of his rights and duties. Even female education is very
important. In a patriarchal society as ours, female education has been neglected for ages.
There are two myths relating to education. Firstly that the parents have little interest in education
and secondly child labour reduces school enrolment. However studies such as the PROBE survey
shows that even amongst the deprived section of the society, the willingness to send their children to
school is as high as 98% for boys and 89% for girls. However, this interest has not translated into
practical efforts due to various reasons such as lack of opportunities, and various social constraints
such as caste barriers.
India seems to be getting caught in a circle, where unaffordability of private schools leaves no option
but that of government schools where poor quality of education prevails. As a result, there is a low
economic return which in turn fosters low motivation to study. It is important the government learns
from its own experiences and improves the literacy scene in India. It can be called the need of the
hour as it is important that the country grows and develops by involving the mass.
8. Why are 39% of the world’s illiterate adults
found in India?
The improvement in the amount
of literate adults from 48% in
1991 to 61% in 2006 has been
counteracted by a
demographic increase, in such
a way that the total of illiterate
adults in the country has not
varied by much in this period of
time.
39% of young people in India between 15 and 19 years old leave school before finishing
secondary education. Financial hardship can restrict their access to school and depending on
the help they get, students have to pay between half and the total of costs; even though they
are inferior to conventional secondary education costs. Students from low income families are
not able to manage them.
9.
10. Urban education v/s Rural education
There is a difference between city and village student not in terms of brain or development but their initial environment, skills, learning ability, availability of
infrastructure, and access to different facilities. All of these must be considered while making the curricula which should not be different but how it is going
to be taught would make the difference.
1. Computer education is given high importance in urban areas where as very few schools in villages give computer training.
2. School education in urban areas is more advanced especially since there is a lot of computer aided teaching. Due to lack of money majority of people
living in villages are not able to send their children to private schools and hence depend upon government schools for education.
3. Basic amenities like drinking water is not provided in some of the schools in villages. There are very few school buildings. Classes are generally held
either under a shed a tree or in the open
4. Apart from the course curriculum rural schools are not able to involve children in other activities like sports, co-curricular activities and competitions.
5. Level of education in urban schools is far advanced as compared to the basic level taught in rural schools. More than half of the students in fifth grade
are unable to read a second grade text book and are not able to solve simple mathematical problems.
6. The drop-out-rate at the secondary level is extremely high in villages. Only parents who can afford college education send their kids to secondary
schools. If parents are not able to send their wards for higher education then all their previous efforts get wasted as completing just secondary education
means a low paying job and the person is again struck in the same never ending cycle of money, life and poverty.
7. Usually an average class strength for an ideal Indian school is 35 students. In rural India the schools are overly packed with students, leading to a
distorted teacher- student ratio. In one such remote village in Arunachal Pradesh there are more than 300 students in class X which makes nearly 100
students in each classroom. In such a situation it is impossible for teachers to pay full attention towards each and every student, even if they are willing to
help.
8. Quality and access to education is the major concern in rural schools as there are fewer committed teachers, lack of proper text books and learning
material in the schools.
11. The Misconception
There is a misconception among people in Indian society that women should
not be allowed to study as they are expected to manage domestic chores. So
their education is just considered as a wastage of money as well as time.
The development of any nation or region is indicated by the level of
education and that too of both genders. That is why „education for all‟ is
strongly recommended and focused on by our government.
First of all, the progress made in this sector is very slow.
Secondly, there a considerable gap between male and female literacy rates
in India.
It has been estimated that at the current rate of progress, India will attain
universal literacy only until 2060.
Though there has been seen a substantial increase in the number of literate
women and this gap is narrowing, it still persists. Among such figures, there
exists a ray of hope as well. According to the 2011 census, since year 2011, 110
million additional women had become literate as compared to 107 men that
means that the number of literate women is increasing.
Females constitute about 50% of country‟s human resource but lack of education snatches their chance to be a part of the progress and development of
India. This means our pace of progress is less than the required pace. Even if females do not use education to work, total illiteracy has a huge negative
impact on our society.
Lack of education means lack of awareness. Illiterate women are not aware of their rights. They know nothing about initiatives taken by the government for
their welfare. Illiterate women keep on struggling hard and bear harshness of life, family and even their husbands.
12. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES
SCHEME LAUNCHED
ON
PROVISIONS
Kasturba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalaya
July 2004 Educational facilities (residential schools) for girls belonging to SC, ST, OBC,
minority communities and families below the poverty line in Educationally
Backward Blocks
Kishore Vaigyanik
Protsahan Yojana
1999 Scholarship program to encourage students to take up research careers in the
areas of basic sciences, engineering and medicine
Midday Meal Scheme August 15, 1995 Lunch (free of cost) to school-children on all working days
National Literacy
Mission Programme
May 5, 1988 Make 80 million adults in the age group of 15 - 35 literate
National Adult
Education
Programme (NAEP)
October, 2 1978 Aimed at educating 100 million non-literate adults in the age-group of 15-35
years within a time frame of five years.
Rural Functional
Literacy Project
(RFLP)
- The objectives of the scheme were: to impart functional literacy to all illiterate
persons in 15-35 age group who are living in the rural areas by organising
specified number of literacy centres in accordance with the norms and
guidelines issued by the then Department of Education, Ministry of HRD from
time to time.
Sarva Siksha Abhiyan 2001 To ensure that all children in the 6–14-year age-group attend school and
complete eight years of schooling by 2010
13. NGOs
SCHEME LAUNCHED ON PROVISIONS
Sammaan Foundation Jan 25, 2007 To empower the downtrodden
and link them with the main
stream through education,
training and financial support
Smile Foundation 2002 Target of providing universal
education and healthcare
services to the underprivileged
thereby changing their lives
forever
Udaan Welfare Foundation 16th March, 2008 Launched various health and
education initiatives involving
children and destitute women.
14. We believe……
India is developing but at a very slow rate, this is not the fault of a corrupt government; it is due to this problem of illiteracy
only. Literacy enables a person to think rationally, to be understanding, to be more responsible and to make his/her own
decisions. A literate person is aware of all his fundamental rights and duties. Literacy is the ultimate solution to fight
problems like communalism, terrorism and under development. Our government is of the people, for the people and by the
people, but what is the use if people can not even make the right choice?
Illiteracy can bring down even the most powerful nations down, so if we are to become a developed nation, the government
should first remove the problem of illiteracy by introducing effective programs with proper implementation and budget. It is
ironical that even today, our leaders and people‟s representatives give literacy a very low priority, pitting poverty
alleviation, food, clothing, shelter, work, health etc. above it. They fail to perceive literacy as part of the development
process, as an endeavour to improve the quality of life, as the process of building awareness among the weaker sections,
as part of democratisation of political power, as the arrangement to give their due, to bridge the gap between the rich and
the poor. They are unable to appreciate the relevance of literacy in matters like infant mortality, immunisation, children‟s
participation in primary schools, population growth, family planning, women‟s emancipation, social evils like child marriage,
dowry, bride burning and so on. Neglecting the issue of illiteracy can hurt the development of India very badly.
Not only the government, but every literate citizen should contribute in battling with the demon of illiteracy. Our motto should
be “each one teach one”, if we are to become a developed nation.
In the words of Barack Obama “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones
we‟ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”. The time for the change is now, we are ready for it, are you?
Literacy is a “climb” because it is something we continuously work to achieve,
but it changes with time. We can‟t give up, we have to keep going.
