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Literacy in India

Literacy in India is a key for social-economic progress.[2][3] The 2011 census, indicated a 2001–2011 literacy growth of 97.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. An old analytical 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress.[4]

Literacy rate map of India, 2011[1]

Census of India pegged the average literacy rate to be 73% in 2011 while National Statistical Commission surveyed literacy to be 77.7% in 2017–18. Literacy rate in urban areas was 87.7%, higher than rural areas with 73.5%. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India[5] and effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) was 84.7% for men and 70.3% for women.[6] The low female literacy rate has a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabilisation efforts in India. Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married Indian couples, even when women do not otherwise have economic independence.[7] The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001–2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.[8]

Literacy involves a continuum of learning enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."[9]

The National Literacy Mission defines literacy as acquiring the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic and the ability to apply them to one's day-to-day life. The achievement of functional literacy implies (i) self-reliance in 3 Rs, (ii) awareness of the causes of deprivation and the ability to move towards amelioration of their condition by participating in the process of development, (iii) acquiring skills to improve economic status and general well-being, and (iv) imbibing values such as national integration, conservation of the environment, women's equality, observance of small family norms.

The working definition of literacy in the Indian census since 1991 is as follows:[10]

Literacy rate
Also called the "effective literacy rate"; the total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding. Here the denominator is the population aged seven years or more.
Crude literacy rate The total percentage of the people of an area at a particular time who can read and write with understanding, taking the total population of the area (including below seven years of age) as the denominator.[11]

Literacy rate in India edit

Top Performing States in 2018[12]
No State Literacy Rate in Percentage
1 Kerala 96.2%
3 Delhi 88.7%
2 Uttarakhand 87.6%
4 Himachal Pradesh 86.6%
5 Assam 85.9%
6 Maharashtra 84.8%
7 Punjab 83.7%
8 Tamil Nadu 82.9%
9 Gujarat 82.4%
10 West Bengal 80.5%

: The report on 'Household Social Consumption: Education in India as part of 75th round of National Sample Survey – from July 2017 to June 2018.[12][13] Other than Assam, no other state from the Northeast was included in the survey.

Comparative literacy statistics by country edit

The table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighboring countries in 2015.[14] Adult literacy rate is based on the 15+ years age group, while the youth literacy rate is for the 15–24 years age group (i.e. youth is a subset of adults).

UNESCO list of countries by literacy rate (2015)[15]
Country Adult literacy rate Youth literacy rate
ages 15–24
China 96.4%[14] 99.7%[15]
Sri Lanka 92.6%[16] 98.8%[17]
Myanmar 93.7% [18] 96.3% [19]
World average 86.3%[20] 91.2% [14]
India 81%[21] 91.76%[21]
Nepal 64.7% 86.9%[21]
Bangladesh 61.5% 83.2%[22]
Pakistan 58%[23] 80.3%[24]

Literacy rate disparity edit

One of the main factors contributing to this relatively low literacy rate is usefulness of education and availability of schools in vicinity in rural areas. There is a shortage of classrooms to accommodate all the students in 2006–2007.[25] In addition, there is no proper sanitation in most schools. The study of 188 government-run primary schools in central and northern India revealed that 59% of the schools had no drinking water facility and 89% no toilets.[26] In 600,000 villages and multiplying urban slum habitats, 'free and compulsory education' is the basic literacy instruction dispensed by barely qualified 'para teachers'.[27] The average pupil teacher ratio for all India is 42:1, implying a teacher shortage.[28] Such inadequacies resulted in a non-standardized school system where literacy rates may differ.[27] Furthermore, the expenditure allocated to education was never above 4.3% of the GDP from 1951 to 2002 despite the target of 6% by the Kothari Commission.[29] This further complicates the literacy problem in India.

Severe caste disparities also exist.[27] Discrimination of lower castes has resulted in high dropout rates and low enrollment rates. The National Sample Survey Organisation and the National Family Health Survey collected data in India on the percentage of children completing primary school which are reported to be only 36.8% and 37.7% respectively.[30] On 21 February 2005, the Prime Minister of India said that he was pained to note that "only 47 out of 100 children enrolled in class I reach class VIII, putting the dropout rate at 52.78 percent."[28] It is estimated that at least 35 million, and possibly as many as 60 million, children aged 6–14 years are not in school.[27]

The large proportion of illiterate females is another reason for the low literacy rate in India. Inequality based on gender differences resulted in female literacy rates being lower at 65.46% than that of their male counterparts at 82.14%.[31] Due to strong stereotyping of female and male roles, sons are thought of to be more useful and hence are educated. Females are pulled to help out on agricultural farms at home as they are increasingly replacing the males on such activities which require no formal education.[32] Fewer than 2% of girls who engaged in agriculture work attended school.[32]

Growth of literacy edit

Pre-colonial period edit

Prior to the colonial era, education in India typically occurred under the supervision of a guru in traditional schools called gurukulas. The gurukulas were supported by public donations and were one of the earliest forms of public school offices.[citation needed]

According to the work of historian Dharampal,[33] based on British documents from the early 1800s, pre-colonial education in India was fairly universal. Dharampal noted that the Hindu temple and/or mosque of each village had a school attached to it and the children of all communities attended these schools.[citation needed]

British period edit

In the colonial era, the community-funded gurukul system and temple-based charity education, began to decline as the centrally funded institutions promoted by the British colonial administration began to gradually take over.[citation needed]

From 1881 and 1947, the number of English-language primary schools grew from 82,916 to 134,866 and the number of students attending those institutions grew from 2,061,541 to 10,525,943. Literacy rates among the Indian public, as recorded rose from an estimated 3.2 per cent in 1872, to 16.1 per cent in 1941.[34][35][36]

In 1944, the British colonial administration presented a plan, called the Sargent Scheme for the educational reconstruction of India, with a goal of producing 100% literacy in the country within 40 years, i.e. by 1984.[37] Although the 40-year time-frame was derided at the time by leaders of the Indian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve universal literacy,[37] India had only just crossed the 74% level by the 2011 census. The British Indian censuses identify a significant difference in literacy rates, by: sex, religion, caste and state of residence,[38] e.g.:

1901 census – literacy rate Male % Female %
Madras 11.9 1.1
Bombay 11.6 0.9
Bengal 10.4 0.5
Berar 8.5 0.3
Assam 6.7 0.4
Punjab 6.4 0.3
United Provinces 5.7 0.2
Central Provinces 5.4 0.2

Post-independence period edit

 
Literacy in India grew very slowly until Indian independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991–2001 period.

The provision of universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6–14 was a cherished national ideal and had been given overriding priority by incorporation as a Directive Policy in Article 45 of the Constitution, but it is still to be achieved more than half a century since the Constitution was adopted in 1949. Parliament has passed the Constitution 86th Amendment Act, 2002, to make elementary education a Fundamental Right for children in the age group of 6–14 years.[39] In order to provide more funds for education, an education cess of 2 percent has been imposed on all direct and indirect central taxes through the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004.[40]

In 2000–01, there were 60,840 pre-primary and pre-basic schools, and 664,041 primary and junior basic schools.[41] Total enrolment at the primary level has increased from 19,200,000 in 1950–51 to 109,800,000 in 2001–02.[42] The number of high schools in 2000–01 was higher than the number of primary schools at the time of independence.[34][41]

The literacy rate grew from 18.33 percent in 1951, to 74.04 percent in 2011.[35] During the same period, the population grew from 361 million to 1,210 million.

Census of India – literacy rates (age 7+)[35][36]
Year Male % Female % Combined %
1872[34] ~3.25
1881 8.1 0.35 4.32
1891 8.44 0.42 4.62
1901 9.8 0.6 5.4
1911 10.6 1.0 5.9
1921 12.2 1.8 7.2
1931 15.6 2.9 9.5
1941 24.9 7.3 16.1
1951 27.16 8.86 18.33
1961 40.4 15.35 28.3
1971 45.96 21.97 34.45
1981 56.38 29.76 43.57
1991 64.13 39.29 52.21
2001 75.26 53.67 64.83
2011 82.14 65.46 74.04

Literacy rate variations between states edit

India's literacy rate is at 75%. Kerala has achieved a literacy rate of 93%.[43] Bihar is the least literate state in India, with a literacy of 61.8%.[11] Several other social indicators of the two states are correlated with these rates, such as life expectancy at birth (71.61 for males and 75 for females in Kerala, 65.66 for males and 64.79 for females in Bihar), infant mortality per 1,000 live births (10 in Kerala, 61 in Bihar), birth rate per 1,000 people (16.9 in Kerala, 30.9 in Bihar) and death rate per 1,000 people (6.4 in Kerala, 7.9 in Bihar).[44]

Every census since 1881 had indicated rising literacy in the country, but the population growth rate had been high enough that the absolute number of illiterate people rose with every decade. The 2001–2011 decade is the second census period (after the 1991–2001 census period) when the absolute number of Indian illiterate population declined (by 31,196,847 people), indicating that the literacy growth rate is now outstripping the population growth rate.[45]

Six Indian states account for about 60% of all illiterates in India: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana).[46] Slightly less than half of all Indian illiterates (48.12%) are in the six states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.[46]

State literacy efforts edit

Several states in India have executed successful programs to boost literacy rates. Over time, a set of factors have emerged as being key to success: the official will to succeed, deliberate steps to engage the community in administering the program, adequate funding for infrastructure and teachers, and provisioning additional services which are considered valuable by the community (such as free school lunches).

Bihar edit

Bihar has significantly raised the literacy rate as per the 2011 census. Literacy rate in year 1951 was only 13.49%, 21.95% in year 1961, 23.17% in year 1971 and 32.32% in year 1981.[47] The literacy rate has risen from 39% in 1991 to 47% in 2001 to 63.8% in 2011.[45] The Government of Bihar has launched several programs to boost literacy, and its Department of Adult Education won a UNESCO award in 1981.[48]

Extensive impoverishment, entrenched hierarchical social divisions and the lack of correlation between educational attainment and job opportunities are often cited in studies of the hurdles literacy programs face in Bihar. Often, children receiving an education in Bihar face significant challenges due to the regions socio-cultural influences and economic factors. Children from "lower castes" are frequently denied school attendance and harassed when they do attend.[49] In areas where there is discrimination, poor funding and impoverished families means that children often cannot afford textbooks and stationery.[49]

When children do get educated, general lack of economic progress in the state means that government jobs are the only alternative to farming labor, yet these jobs, in practice, require bribes to secure – which poorer families cannot afford.[49] This leads to educated youths working on the farms, much as uneducated ones do, and leads parents to question the investment of sending children to school in the first place.[49] Bihar's government schools have also faced teacher absenteeism, leading the state government to threaten to withhold of salaries of teachers who failed to conduct classes on a regular basis.[50] To incentivize students to attend, the government announced a Rupee 1 per school-day grant to poor children who show up at school.[50]

Tripura edit

Presently Tripura has the third highest literacy rate in India.[51] According to the 2011 census, literacy level was 93.91 percent in Kerala and 91.58 percent in Mizoram, among the most literate states in the country. The national literacy rate, according to the 2011 census, was 74.04 percent.

The Tripura success story is attributed to the involvement of local government bodies, including gram panchayats, NGOs and local clubs under the close supervision of the State Literacy Mission Authority (SLMA) headed by the chief minister. Tripura attained 87.75 percent literacy in the 2011 census, from the 12th position in the 2001 census to the 4th position in the 2011 census.[52] The Tripura Chief Minister said that efforts were underway to literate leftover 5.35 percent people and achieve complete success in a state of about 3.8 million people.[53] The programs were not just implemented to make the state literate but as long-term education programs to ensure all citizens have a certain basic minimum level of education. Tripura has 45 blocks and 23 subdivisions that are served by 68 government-run schools and 30–40 private schools.[54]

Among projects implemented by the state government to increase literacy in the state are:

  • Total literacy drive for people aged between 15 and 50 who have lost the chance of entering formal education fold. A special program – titled improved pace and content learning (IPCL) – has been designed to provide basic education to such people.
  • 10,000 Anganwadi centers have 100 percent enrollment.
  • Policy of no-fail till class VIII to prevent children from dropping out.
  • Midday meals in all schools with an eclectic menu for all days of the week to attract more students.
  • No tuition fee in government colleges.

The holistic education system, implemented with equal interest in Agartala, remote areas and the tribal autonomic areas makes sure that people in Tripura do not just become literate but educated, officials emphasized. One pointer to the government's interest in education is the near-total absence of child labor in Tripura.[citation needed]

Kerala edit

Kerala topped the Education Development Index (EDI) among 21 major states in India in the year 2006–2007. More than 94% of the rural population has access to a primary school within 1 km, while 98% of the population benefits one school within a distance of 2 km. An upper primary school within a distance of 3 km is available for more than 96% of the people, whose 98% benefit the facility for secondary education within 8 km. The access for rural students to higher educational institutions in cities is facilitated by widely subsidized transport fares.

Kerala's educational system has been developed by institutions owned or aided by the government. In the educational system prevailed in the state, schooling is for 10 years which is subdivided into lower primary, upper primary and high school. After 10 years of secondary schooling, students typically enroll in Higher Secondary Schooling in one of the three major streams— liberal arts, commerce or science. Upon completing the required coursework, students can enroll in general or professional undergraduate programs.

Kerala launched a "campaign for total literacy" in Ernakulam district in the late 1980s, with a "fusion between the district administration headed by its collector on one side and, on the other side, voluntary groups, social activists and others".[55] On 4 February 1990, the Government of Kerala endeavoured to replicate the initiative on a statewide level, launching the Kerala State Literacy Campaign.[55] First, households were surveyed with door-to-door, multistage survey visits to form an accurate picture of the literacy landscape and areas that needed special focus. Then, Kala Jāthas (cultural troupes) and Sāksharata Pada Yātras (Literacy Foot Marches) were organized to generate awareness of the campaign and create a receptive social atmosphere for the program.[55] An integrated management system was created involving state officials, prominent social figures, local officials and senior voluntary workers to oversee the execution of the campaign.[55]

Himachal edit

 
Strong government action and community support made Himachal Pradesh one of India's most literate states by 2001.

Himachal Pradesh underwent a "Schooling Revolution" in the 1961–2001 period that has been called "even more impressive than Kerala's."[56] Kerala has led the nation in literacy rates since the 19th century and seen sustained initiatives for over 150 years, whereas Himachal Pradesh's literacy rate in 1961 was below the national average in every age group.[56] In the three decadal 1961–1991 period, the female literacy in the 15–19 years age group went from 11% to 86%.[56] School attendance for both boys and girls in the 6–14-year age group stood at over 97% each, when measured in the 1998–99 school year.[56]

Mizoram edit

Mizoram is the second most literate state in India (91.58 percent), with Serchhip and Aizawl districts being the two most literate districts in India (literacy rate is 98.76% and 98.50%), both in Mizoram.[45] Mizoram's literacy rate rose rapidly after independence: from 31.14% in 1951 to 88.80% in 2001.[57] As in Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram has a social structure that is relatively free of hierarchy and strong official intent to produce total literacy.[58] The government identified illiterates and organized an administrative structure that engaged officials and community leaders and manned by "animators" who were responsible for teaching five illiterates each.[59] Mizoram established 360 continuing education centers to handle continued education beyond the initial literacy teaching and to provide an educational safety net for school drop-outs.[59]

Tamil Nadu edit

One of the pioneers of the scheme that started providing cooked meals to children in corporation schools in the Madras city in 1923. The program was introduced on a large scale in the 1960s under the chief ministership of K. Kamaraj. The first major thrust came in 1982 when Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. G. Ramachandran, decided to universalize the scheme for all children up to class 10. Tamil Nadu's midday meal program is among the best-known in the country.[60] Starting in 1982, Tamil Nadu took an approach to promote literacy based on free lunches for schoolchildren, "ignoring cynics who said it was an electoral gimmick and economists who said it made little fiscal sense."[61] The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, MGR launched the program, which resembled a similar initiative in 19th century Japan, because "he had experienced as a child what it was like to go hungry to school with the family having no money to buy food".[61]

Eventually, the program covered all children under the age of 15, as well as pregnant women for the first four months of their pregnancy. Tamil Nadu's literacy rate rose from 54.4% in 1981 to 80.3% in 2011.[61] In 2001, the Supreme Court of India instructed all state governments to implement free school lunches in all government-funded schools, but implementation has been patchy due to corruption and social issues.[61] Despite these hurdles, 120 million receive free lunches in Indian schools every day, making it the largest school meal program in the world.[62]

Rajasthan edit

Although the decadal rise from 2001 to 2011 was only 6.7% (60.4% in 2001 to 67.7% in 2011), Rajasthan had the biggest percentage decadal (1991–2001) increase in the literacy of all Indian states, from about 38% to about 61%, a leapfrog that has been termed "spectacular" by some observers.[63] Aggressive state government action, in the form of the District Primary Education Programme, the Shiksha Karmi initiative and the Lok Jumbish program are credited with the rapid improvement.[64] Virtually every village in Rajasthan now has primary school coverage.[63] When statehood was granted to Rajasthan in 1956, it was the least literate state in India with a literacy rate of 18%.[64]

Literacy efforts edit

The right to education is a fundamental right,[65] and UNESCO aimed at education for all by 2015.[65] India, along with the Arab states and sub-Saharan Africa, has a literacy level below the threshold level of 75%, but efforts are ongoing to achieve that level. The campaign to achieve at least the threshold literacy level represents the largest ever civil and military mobilization in the country.[66] International Literacy Day is celebrated each year on 8 September with the aim to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

Government efforts edit

Financial regulators in India such as RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFDRA, etc. have created a joint charter called National Strategy For Financial Education (NSFE), detailing initiatives taken by them for financial literacy in India. Also, other market participants like banks, stock exchanges, broking houses, mutual funds, and insurance companies are actively involved in it. The National Centre For Financial Education (NCFE) in consultation with relevant financial sector regulators and stakeholders has prepared the revised NSFE(2020–2025)

National Literacy Mission edit

The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988, aimed at attaining a literacy rate of 75 percent by 2007.[67] Its charter is to impart functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 35–75 years. The Total Literacy Campaign is their principal strategy for the eradication of illiteracy. The Continuing Education Scheme provides a learning continuum to the efforts of the Total Literacy and Post Literacy programs.[39]

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan edit

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Hindi for Total Literacy Campaign) was launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the 6–14-year age-group attend school and complete eight years of schooling by 2010. An important component of the scheme is the Education Guarantee Scheme and Alternative and Innovative Education, meant primarily for children in areas with no formal school within a one-kilometer radius. The centrally sponsored District Primary Education Programme, launched in 1994, had opened more than 160,000 new schools by 2005, including almost 84,000 alternative schools.[39]

Non-governmental efforts edit

The bulk of Indian illiterates live in the country's rural areas, where social and economic barriers play an important role in keeping the lowest strata of society illiterate. Government programs alone, however well-intentioned, may not be able to dismantle barriers built over centuries. Major social reformation efforts are sometimes required to bring about a change in the rural scenario. Specific mention is to be made regarding the role of the People's Science Movements (PSMs) and Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) in the Literacy Mission in India during the early 1990s.[68] Several non-governmental organisations such as Pratham, ITC, Rotary Club, Lions Club have worked to improve the literacy rate in India.

Manthan Sampoorna Vikas Kendra

Manthan SVK is a holistic education program initiated by Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan under the guidance of Shri Ashutosh Maharajji. This initiative, started in 2008, has since then reached and spread education to over 5000 underprivileged children across India, with its centers spread in Delhi – NCR, Punjab and Bihar. The main aim of Manthan is to provide not just academic but also mental, physical and emotional education. Manthan has also been working for adult literacy through its Adult Literacy Centres for illiterate women. Vocational education is also given attention to, with Sewing and Stitching Centres for women.

The motto of Manthan being Saakshar Bharat, Sashakt Bharat, it has been providing quality education selflessly.

Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation edit

Shantha Sinha won a Magsaysay Award in 2003 in recognition of "Her guiding the people of Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labor and send all of their children to school." As head of an extension program at the University of Hyderabad in 1987, she organized a three-month-long camp to prepare children rescued from bonded labor to attend school. Later, in 1991, she guided her family's Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation to take up this idea as part of its overriding mission in Andhra Pradesh. Her original transition camps grew into full-fledged residential "bridge schools." The foundation's aim is to create a social climate hostile to child labor, child marriage and other practices that deny children the right to a normal childhood. Today the MV Foundation's bridge schools and programs extend to 4,300 villages.[69]

See also edit

References edit

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  56. ^ a b c d Jean Drèze; Amartya Sen (2002), India: development and participation, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-925749-3, ... Himachal Pradesh's transition from mass illiteracy to near-universal elemensdddtary education has been even more impressive than Kerala's ... taken place over a much shorter period in time in Himachal Pradesh than in Kerala, where sustained educational expansion began in the 19th century ...
  57. ^ Vanlalchhawna (2006), Higher education in North-East India: unit cost analysis, Mittal Publications, ISBN 81-8324-056-9, ... from 31.14% in 1951 to 88.8% in 2001, an increase of 57.7%, whereas the all-India literacy rates ...
  58. ^ Lalit Kumar Jha (1997), Natural Resource Management: Mizoram, APH Publishing, ISBN 81-7024-781-0, ... Mizoram has certainly distinguished itself amongst the states of India ... a closely knit society ... village councils having a definite bearing on the social and administrative setups, educational facilities ...
  59. ^ a b "Mizoram imparts a lesson in literacy to the country", Rediff, 22 November 1999, retrieved 6 December 2009, ... The Mizoram government drew up a detailed plan primed towards achieving total literacy. Each animator was given the task of teaching five persons at a time ... the Centre has laid stress on this program, sanctioning 4567,000 to establish 360 Continuing Education Centres and 40 more nodal centers spread across the state ...
  60. ^ "Tamil Nadu India's most literate state: HRD ministry – City – The Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 14 May 2003. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  61. ^ a b c d , Asia Times, 20 May 2008, archived from the original on 19 November 2008, retrieved 28 November 2009, ... noon-meal scheme for children was first pioneered in 1982 by iconic movie star and Tamil Nadu chief minister M G Ramachandran (1917–1987), the world's first film hero to head a government. MGR, as he was called, started the free lunch for school children scheme, ignoring cynics who said it was an electoral gimmick and economists who said it made little fiscal sense ...{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  62. ^ Geeta Gandhi Kingdon (March 2007), The progress of school education in India (PDF), Global Poverty Research Group, Economic and Social Research Council, retrieved 28 November 2009, ... In late 2001, the Indian Supreme Court directed all states "to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every government and government-assisted primary school with a prepared midday meal with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8- 12 grams of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days." By 2006, the MDM scheme was near-universal in all states ... the central government provides grains, funds transportation and also pays food preparation costs, though the state government is responsible for providing the physical infrastructure for cooking the meals ... The scheme provides lunch to about 120 million children every school day and, as such, is the largest school meal scheme in the world ...
  63. ^ a b , Frontline (The Hindu), 7 December 2001, archived from the original on 17 September 2008, retrieved 28 November 2009, ... Rajasthan's improvement ... recorded the highest percentage increase in literacy rate among the Indian states ... the percentage point increase in female literacy is the highest in Andhra Pradesh ...{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  64. ^ a b Dey, Anindo (6 October 2008), "Rajasthan passes literacy test with flying colors", Times of India, retrieved 28 November 2009, ... thanks to some public initiatives taken like the Lok Jumbish and the Shiksha Karmi ...
  65. ^ a b , UNESCO, archived from the original on 5 July 2009
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  68. ^ Thakur, D. N. (1 January 2004). Primary Education And Adult Literacy (2Nd ed.). Deep & Deep Publications. ISBN 9788176294904 – via Google Books.
  69. ^ . Rmaf.org.ph. 31 August 2003. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2010.

Sources edit

  • NSO (2018). Household Social Consumption on Education in India (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 26 November 2020.

Further reading edit

  • Calvi, Rossella, Federico Mantovanelli, and Lauren Hoehn-Velasco. "The Protestant Legacy: Missions and Human Capital in India." (2019) online.
  • Chaudhary, Latika, and Manuj Garg. "Does history matter? Colonial education investments in India." Economic History Review 68.3 (2015): 937–961.
  • Chaudhary, Latika. "Taxation and educational development: Evidence from British India." Explorations in Economic History 47.3 (2010): 279–293 online.
  • Chaudhary, Latika. "Determinants of primary schooling in British India." Journal of Economic History (2009): 269–302 online.
  • Natarajan, Dandapani. "Extracts from the All India Census Reports on Literacy." (2016) page 11 online

External links edit

  • National Literacy Policies – India
  • Need for literacy in India
  • Growth of literacy in India
  • Find details about Literacy in India
  • [usurped]
  • [usurped]
  • Times of India editorial Learn to change, 28 July 2006
  • Provisional Population Totals for Census 2011 31 March 2011
  • India languishes in its villages:NSSO Survey
  • India Literacy Project, a catalyst for 100% literacy in India

literacy, india, social, economic, progress, 2011, census, indicated, 2001, 2011, literacy, growth, which, slower, than, growth, seen, during, previous, decade, analytical, 1990, study, estimated, that, would, take, until, 2060, india, achieve, universal, lite. Literacy in India is a key for social economic progress 2 3 The 2011 census indicated a 2001 2011 literacy growth of 97 2 which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade An old analytical 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then current rate of progress 4 Literacy rate map of India 2011 1 Census of India pegged the average literacy rate to be 73 in 2011 while National Statistical Commission surveyed literacy to be 77 7 in 2017 18 Literacy rate in urban areas was 87 7 higher than rural areas with 73 5 There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India 5 and effective literacy rates age 7 and above was 84 7 for men and 70 3 for women 6 The low female literacy rate has a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabilisation efforts in India Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married Indian couples even when women do not otherwise have economic independence 7 The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rates 11 8 was substantially faster than in male literacy rates 6 9 in the 2001 2011 decadal period which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing 8 Literacy involves a continuum of learning enabling individuals to achieve their goals to develop their knowledge and potential and to participate fully in their community and wider society 9 The National Literacy Mission defines literacy as acquiring the skills of reading writing and arithmetic and the ability to apply them to one s day to day life The achievement of functional literacy implies i self reliance in 3 Rs ii awareness of the causes of deprivation and the ability to move towards amelioration of their condition by participating in the process of development iii acquiring skills to improve economic status and general well being and iv imbibing values such as national integration conservation of the environment women s equality observance of small family norms The working definition of literacy in the Indian census since 1991 is as follows 10 Literacy rate Also called the effective literacy rate the total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding Here the denominator is the population aged seven years or more Effective literacy rate number of literate persons aged 7 or above population aged 7 and above 100 displaystyle text Effective literacy rate frac text number of literate persons aged 7 or above text population aged 7 and above times 100 Crude literacy rate The total percentage of the people of an area at a particular time who can read and write with understanding taking the total population of the area including below seven years of age as the denominator 11 Crude literacy rate number of literate persons total population 100 displaystyle text Crude literacy rate frac text number of literate persons text total population times 100 Contents 1 Literacy rate in India 2 Comparative literacy statistics by country 3 Literacy rate disparity 4 Growth of literacy 4 1 Pre colonial period 4 2 British period 4 3 Post independence period 5 Literacy rate variations between states 6 State literacy efforts 6 1 Bihar 6 2 Tripura 6 3 Kerala 6 4 Himachal 6 5 Mizoram 6 6 Tamil Nadu 6 7 Rajasthan 7 Literacy efforts 7 1 Government efforts 7 1 1 National Literacy Mission 7 1 2 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan 7 2 Non governmental efforts 7 2 1 Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation 8 See also 9 References 10 Sources 11 Further reading 12 External linksLiteracy rate in India editTop Performing States in 2018 12 No State Literacy Rate in Percentage1 Kerala 96 2 3 Delhi 88 7 2 Uttarakhand 87 6 4 Himachal Pradesh 86 6 5 Assam 85 9 6 Maharashtra 84 8 7 Punjab 83 7 8 Tamil Nadu 82 9 9 Gujarat 82 4 10 West Bengal 80 5 The report on Household Social Consumption Education in India as part of 75th round of National Sample Survey from July 2017 to June 2018 12 13 Other than Assam no other state from the Northeast was included in the survey Comparative literacy statistics by country editThe table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighboring countries in 2015 14 Adult literacy rate is based on the 15 years age group while the youth literacy rate is for the 15 24 years age group i e youth is a subset of adults UNESCO list of countries by literacy rate 2015 15 Country Adult literacy rate Youth literacy rateages 15 24China 96 4 14 99 7 15 Sri Lanka 92 6 16 98 8 17 Myanmar 93 7 18 96 3 19 World average 86 3 20 91 2 14 India 81 21 91 76 21 Nepal 64 7 86 9 21 Bangladesh 61 5 83 2 22 Pakistan 58 23 80 3 24 Literacy rate disparity editOne of the main factors contributing to this relatively low literacy rate is usefulness of education and availability of schools in vicinity in rural areas There is a shortage of classrooms to accommodate all the students in 2006 2007 25 In addition there is no proper sanitation in most schools The study of 188 government run primary schools in central and northern India revealed that 59 of the schools had no drinking water facility and 89 no toilets 26 In 600 000 villages and multiplying urban slum habitats free and compulsory education is the basic literacy instruction dispensed by barely qualified para teachers 27 The average pupil teacher ratio for all India is 42 1 implying a teacher shortage 28 Such inadequacies resulted in a non standardized school system where literacy rates may differ 27 Furthermore the expenditure allocated to education was never above 4 3 of the GDP from 1951 to 2002 despite the target of 6 by the Kothari Commission 29 This further complicates the literacy problem in India Severe caste disparities also exist 27 Discrimination of lower castes has resulted in high dropout rates and low enrollment rates The National Sample Survey Organisation and the National Family Health Survey collected data in India on the percentage of children completing primary school which are reported to be only 36 8 and 37 7 respectively 30 On 21 February 2005 the Prime Minister of India said that he was pained to note that only 47 out of 100 children enrolled in class I reach class VIII putting the dropout rate at 52 78 percent 28 It is estimated that at least 35 million and possibly as many as 60 million children aged 6 14 years are not in school 27 The large proportion of illiterate females is another reason for the low literacy rate in India Inequality based on gender differences resulted in female literacy rates being lower at 65 46 than that of their male counterparts at 82 14 31 Due to strong stereotyping of female and male roles sons are thought of to be more useful and hence are educated Females are pulled to help out on agricultural farms at home as they are increasingly replacing the males on such activities which require no formal education 32 Fewer than 2 of girls who engaged in agriculture work attended school 32 Growth of literacy editPre colonial period edit Prior to the colonial era education in India typically occurred under the supervision of a guru in traditional schools called gurukulas The gurukulas were supported by public donations and were one of the earliest forms of public school offices citation needed According to the work of historian Dharampal 33 based on British documents from the early 1800s pre colonial education in India was fairly universal Dharampal noted that the Hindu temple and or mosque of each village had a school attached to it and the children of all communities attended these schools citation needed British period edit In the colonial era the community funded gurukul system and temple based charity education began to decline as the centrally funded institutions promoted by the British colonial administration began to gradually take over citation needed From 1881 and 1947 the number of English language primary schools grew from 82 916 to 134 866 and the number of students attending those institutions grew from 2 061 541 to 10 525 943 Literacy rates among the Indian public as recorded rose from an estimated 3 2 per cent in 1872 to 16 1 per cent in 1941 34 35 36 In 1944 the British colonial administration presented a plan called the Sargent Scheme for the educational reconstruction of India with a goal of producing 100 literacy in the country within 40 years i e by 1984 37 Although the 40 year time frame was derided at the time by leaders of the Indian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve universal literacy 37 India had only just crossed the 74 level by the 2011 census The British Indian censuses identify a significant difference in literacy rates by sex religion caste and state of residence 38 e g 1901 census literacy rate Male Female Madras 11 9 1 1Bombay 11 6 0 9Bengal 10 4 0 5Berar 8 5 0 3Assam 6 7 0 4Punjab 6 4 0 3United Provinces 5 7 0 2Central Provinces 5 4 0 2Post independence period edit nbsp Literacy in India grew very slowly until Indian independence in 1947 An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991 2001 period The provision of universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6 14 was a cherished national ideal and had been given overriding priority by incorporation as a Directive Policy in Article 45 of the Constitution but it is still to be achieved more than half a century since the Constitution was adopted in 1949 Parliament has passed the Constitution 86th Amendment Act 2002 to make elementary education a Fundamental Right for children in the age group of 6 14 years 39 In order to provide more funds for education an education cess of 2 percent has been imposed on all direct and indirect central taxes through the Finance No 2 Act 2004 40 In 2000 01 there were 60 840 pre primary and pre basic schools and 664 041 primary and junior basic schools 41 Total enrolment at the primary level has increased from 19 200 000 in 1950 51 to 109 800 000 in 2001 02 42 The number of high schools in 2000 01 was higher than the number of primary schools at the time of independence 34 41 The literacy rate grew from 18 33 percent in 1951 to 74 04 percent in 2011 35 During the same period the population grew from 361 million to 1 210 million Census of India literacy rates age 7 35 36 Year Male Female Combined 1872 34 3 251881 8 1 0 35 4 321891 8 44 0 42 4 621901 9 8 0 6 5 41911 10 6 1 0 5 91921 12 2 1 8 7 21931 15 6 2 9 9 51941 24 9 7 3 16 11951 27 16 8 86 18 331961 40 4 15 35 28 31971 45 96 21 97 34 451981 56 38 29 76 43 571991 64 13 39 29 52 212001 75 26 53 67 64 832011 82 14 65 46 74 04Literacy rate variations between states editIndia s literacy rate is at 75 Kerala has achieved a literacy rate of 93 43 Bihar is the least literate state in India with a literacy of 61 8 11 Several other social indicators of the two states are correlated with these rates such as life expectancy at birth 71 61 for males and 75 for females in Kerala 65 66 for males and 64 79 for females in Bihar infant mortality per 1 000 live births 10 in Kerala 61 in Bihar birth rate per 1 000 people 16 9 in Kerala 30 9 in Bihar and death rate per 1 000 people 6 4 in Kerala 7 9 in Bihar 44 Every census since 1881 had indicated rising literacy in the country but the population growth rate had been high enough that the absolute number of illiterate people rose with every decade The 2001 2011 decade is the second census period after the 1991 2001 census period when the absolute number of Indian illiterate population declined by 31 196 847 people indicating that the literacy growth rate is now outstripping the population growth rate 45 Six Indian states account for about 60 of all illiterates in India Uttar Pradesh Bihar Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh including Telangana 46 Slightly less than half of all Indian illiterates 48 12 are in the six states of Uttar Pradesh Bihar Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh 46 State literacy efforts editSeveral states in India have executed successful programs to boost literacy rates Over time a set of factors have emerged as being key to success the official will to succeed deliberate steps to engage the community in administering the program adequate funding for infrastructure and teachers and provisioning additional services which are considered valuable by the community such as free school lunches Bihar edit Bihar has significantly raised the literacy rate as per the 2011 census Literacy rate in year 1951 was only 13 49 21 95 in year 1961 23 17 in year 1971 and 32 32 in year 1981 47 The literacy rate has risen from 39 in 1991 to 47 in 2001 to 63 8 in 2011 45 The Government of Bihar has launched several programs to boost literacy and its Department of Adult Education won a UNESCO award in 1981 48 Extensive impoverishment entrenched hierarchical social divisions and the lack of correlation between educational attainment and job opportunities are often cited in studies of the hurdles literacy programs face in Bihar Often children receiving an education in Bihar face significant challenges due to the regions socio cultural influences and economic factors Children from lower castes are frequently denied school attendance and harassed when they do attend 49 In areas where there is discrimination poor funding and impoverished families means that children often cannot afford textbooks and stationery 49 When children do get educated general lack of economic progress in the state means that government jobs are the only alternative to farming labor yet these jobs in practice require bribes to secure which poorer families cannot afford 49 This leads to educated youths working on the farms much as uneducated ones do and leads parents to question the investment of sending children to school in the first place 49 Bihar s government schools have also faced teacher absenteeism leading the state government to threaten to withhold of salaries of teachers who failed to conduct classes on a regular basis 50 To incentivize students to attend the government announced a Rupee 1 per school day grant to poor children who show up at school 50 Tripura edit Presently Tripura has the third highest literacy rate in India 51 According to the 2011 census literacy level was 93 91 percent in Kerala and 91 58 percent in Mizoram among the most literate states in the country The national literacy rate according to the 2011 census was 74 04 percent The Tripura success story is attributed to the involvement of local government bodies including gram panchayats NGOs and local clubs under the close supervision of the State Literacy Mission Authority SLMA headed by the chief minister Tripura attained 87 75 percent literacy in the 2011 census from the 12th position in the 2001 census to the 4th position in the 2011 census 52 The Tripura Chief Minister said that efforts were underway to literate leftover 5 35 percent people and achieve complete success in a state of about 3 8 million people 53 The programs were not just implemented to make the state literate but as long term education programs to ensure all citizens have a certain basic minimum level of education Tripura has 45 blocks and 23 subdivisions that are served by 68 government run schools and 30 40 private schools 54 Among projects implemented by the state government to increase literacy in the state are Total literacy drive for people aged between 15 and 50 who have lost the chance of entering formal education fold A special program titled improved pace and content learning IPCL has been designed to provide basic education to such people 10 000 Anganwadi centers have 100 percent enrollment Policy of no fail till class VIII to prevent children from dropping out Midday meals in all schools with an eclectic menu for all days of the week to attract more students No tuition fee in government colleges The holistic education system implemented with equal interest in Agartala remote areas and the tribal autonomic areas makes sure that people in Tripura do not just become literate but educated officials emphasized One pointer to the government s interest in education is the near total absence of child labor in Tripura citation needed Kerala edit Kerala topped the Education Development Index EDI among 21 major states in India in the year 2006 2007 More than 94 of the rural population has access to a primary school within 1 km while 98 of the population benefits one school within a distance of 2 km An upper primary school within a distance of 3 km is available for more than 96 of the people whose 98 benefit the facility for secondary education within 8 km The access for rural students to higher educational institutions in cities is facilitated by widely subsidized transport fares Kerala s educational system has been developed by institutions owned or aided by the government In the educational system prevailed in the state schooling is for 10 years which is subdivided into lower primary upper primary and high school After 10 years of secondary schooling students typically enroll in Higher Secondary Schooling in one of the three major streams liberal arts commerce or science Upon completing the required coursework students can enroll in general or professional undergraduate programs Kerala launched a campaign for total literacy in Ernakulam district in the late 1980s with a fusion between the district administration headed by its collector on one side and on the other side voluntary groups social activists and others 55 On 4 February 1990 the Government of Kerala endeavoured to replicate the initiative on a statewide level launching the Kerala State Literacy Campaign 55 First households were surveyed with door to door multistage survey visits to form an accurate picture of the literacy landscape and areas that needed special focus Then Kala Jathas cultural troupes and Saksharata Pada Yatras Literacy Foot Marches were organized to generate awareness of the campaign and create a receptive social atmosphere for the program 55 An integrated management system was created involving state officials prominent social figures local officials and senior voluntary workers to oversee the execution of the campaign 55 Himachal edit nbsp Strong government action and community support made Himachal Pradesh one of India s most literate states by 2001 Himachal Pradesh underwent a Schooling Revolution in the 1961 2001 period that has been called even more impressive than Kerala s 56 Kerala has led the nation in literacy rates since the 19th century and seen sustained initiatives for over 150 years whereas Himachal Pradesh s literacy rate in 1961 was below the national average in every age group 56 In the three decadal 1961 1991 period the female literacy in the 15 19 years age group went from 11 to 86 56 School attendance for both boys and girls in the 6 14 year age group stood at over 97 each when measured in the 1998 99 school year 56 Mizoram edit Mizoram is the second most literate state in India 91 58 percent with Serchhip and Aizawl districts being the two most literate districts in India literacy rate is 98 76 and 98 50 both in Mizoram 45 Mizoram s literacy rate rose rapidly after independence from 31 14 in 1951 to 88 80 in 2001 57 As in Himachal Pradesh Mizoram has a social structure that is relatively free of hierarchy and strong official intent to produce total literacy 58 The government identified illiterates and organized an administrative structure that engaged officials and community leaders and manned by animators who were responsible for teaching five illiterates each 59 Mizoram established 360 continuing education centers to handle continued education beyond the initial literacy teaching and to provide an educational safety net for school drop outs 59 Tamil Nadu edit One of the pioneers of the scheme that started providing cooked meals to children in corporation schools in the Madras city in 1923 The program was introduced on a large scale in the 1960s under the chief ministership of K Kamaraj The first major thrust came in 1982 when Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr M G Ramachandran decided to universalize the scheme for all children up to class 10 Tamil Nadu s midday meal program is among the best known in the country 60 Starting in 1982 Tamil Nadu took an approach to promote literacy based on free lunches for schoolchildren ignoring cynics who said it was an electoral gimmick and economists who said it made little fiscal sense 61 The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu MGR launched the program which resembled a similar initiative in 19th century Japan because he had experienced as a child what it was like to go hungry to school with the family having no money to buy food 61 Eventually the program covered all children under the age of 15 as well as pregnant women for the first four months of their pregnancy Tamil Nadu s literacy rate rose from 54 4 in 1981 to 80 3 in 2011 61 In 2001 the Supreme Court of India instructed all state governments to implement free school lunches in all government funded schools but implementation has been patchy due to corruption and social issues 61 Despite these hurdles 120 million receive free lunches in Indian schools every day making it the largest school meal program in the world 62 Rajasthan edit Although the decadal rise from 2001 to 2011 was only 6 7 60 4 in 2001 to 67 7 in 2011 Rajasthan had the biggest percentage decadal 1991 2001 increase in the literacy of all Indian states from about 38 to about 61 a leapfrog that has been termed spectacular by some observers 63 Aggressive state government action in the form of the District Primary Education Programme the Shiksha Karmi initiative and the Lok Jumbish program are credited with the rapid improvement 64 Virtually every village in Rajasthan now has primary school coverage 63 When statehood was granted to Rajasthan in 1956 it was the least literate state in India with a literacy rate of 18 64 Literacy efforts editThe right to education is a fundamental right 65 and UNESCO aimed at education for all by 2015 65 India along with the Arab states and sub Saharan Africa has a literacy level below the threshold level of 75 but efforts are ongoing to achieve that level The campaign to achieve at least the threshold literacy level represents the largest ever civil and military mobilization in the country 66 International Literacy Day is celebrated each year on 8 September with the aim to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals communities and societies Government efforts edit Financial regulators in India such as RBI SEBI IRDAI PFDRA etc have created a joint charter called National Strategy For Financial Education NSFE detailing initiatives taken by them for financial literacy in India Also other market participants like banks stock exchanges broking houses mutual funds and insurance companies are actively involved in it The National Centre For Financial Education NCFE in consultation with relevant financial sector regulators and stakeholders has prepared the revised NSFE 2020 2025 National Literacy Mission edit The National Literacy Mission launched in 1988 aimed at attaining a literacy rate of 75 percent by 2007 67 Its charter is to impart functional literacy to non literates in the age group of 35 75 years The Total Literacy Campaign is their principal strategy for the eradication of illiteracy The Continuing Education Scheme provides a learning continuum to the efforts of the Total Literacy and Post Literacy programs 39 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan edit The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Hindi for Total Literacy Campaign was launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the 6 14 year age group attend school and complete eight years of schooling by 2010 An important component of the scheme is the Education Guarantee Scheme and Alternative and Innovative Education meant primarily for children in areas with no formal school within a one kilometer radius The centrally sponsored District Primary Education Programme launched in 1994 had opened more than 160 000 new schools by 2005 including almost 84 000 alternative schools 39 Non governmental efforts edit The bulk of Indian illiterates live in the country s rural areas where social and economic barriers play an important role in keeping the lowest strata of society illiterate Government programs alone however well intentioned may not be able to dismantle barriers built over centuries Major social reformation efforts are sometimes required to bring about a change in the rural scenario Specific mention is to be made regarding the role of the People s Science Movements PSMs and Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti BGVS in the Literacy Mission in India during the early 1990s 68 Several non governmental organisations such as Pratham ITC Rotary Club Lions Club have worked to improve the literacy rate in India Manthan Sampoorna Vikas KendraManthan SVK is a holistic education program initiated by Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan under the guidance of Shri Ashutosh Maharajji This initiative started in 2008 has since then reached and spread education to over 5000 underprivileged children across India with its centers spread in Delhi NCR Punjab and Bihar The main aim of Manthan is to provide not just academic but also mental physical and emotional education Manthan has also been working for adult literacy through its Adult Literacy Centres for illiterate women Vocational education is also given attention to with Sewing and Stitching Centres for women The motto of Manthan being Saakshar Bharat Sashakt Bharat it has been providing quality education selflessly Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation edit Shantha Sinha won a Magsaysay Award in 2003 in recognition of Her guiding the people of Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labor and send all of their children to school As head of an extension program at the University of Hyderabad in 1987 she organized a three month long camp to prepare children rescued from bonded labor to attend school Later in 1991 she guided her family s Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation to take up this idea as part of its overriding mission in Andhra Pradesh Her original transition camps grew into full fledged residential bridge schools The foundation s aim is to create a social climate hostile to child labor child marriage and other practices that deny children the right to a normal childhood Today the MV Foundation s bridge schools and programs extend to 4 300 villages 69 See also editList of Indian states and union territories by literacy rate Literacy Education in India Kerala model National Literacy Mission Programme Speech on Education in India by Keshub Chandra Sen delivered at London on 24 May 1870 Ekal Vidyalaya non profit charity organisation dedicated to education and village development in rural India Asha for Education a non profit organisation bringing hope through education Pratham an NGO with literacy programmes PlanetRead a non profit organisation using subtitled Bollywood film songs to increase functional literacyReferences edit Ranking of states and union territories by literacy rate 2011 Census of India Report 2013 UNESCO Literacy UNESCO archived from the original on 20 May 2009 Number of literates and Literacy Rate by sex and residence censusindia gov in Retrieved 18 February 2020 How Female Literacy Affects Fertility The Case of India PDF Population Institute East West Centre December 1990 retrieved 25 November 2009 India Literacy rate 1981 2018 Statista NSO 2018 p I A Dharmalingam S Philip Morgan 1996 Women s work autonomy and birth control evidence from two south India villages Population Studies 50 2 187 201 doi 10 1080 0032472031000149296 JSTOR 2174910 Literates and Literacy Rates 2001 Census Provisional National Literacy Mission archived from the original on 19 June 2009 retrieved 27 November 2009 UNESCO Education Sector The Plurality of Literacy and its Implications for Policies and Programmes Position Paper Paris United National Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation 2004 p 13 citing an international expert meeting in June 2003 at UNESCO Preventive and social medicine by K Park 19th edition 2007 M s Banarsidas Bhanot Jabalpur India a b State of Literacy PDF a b NSS 75th Round 2022 Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India PDF Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link At 96 2 Kerala tops literacy rate chart Andhra Pradesh worst performer at 66 4 The Economic Times Retrieved 9 September 2020 a b c List of countries by literacy rate a b UNESCO Institute for Statistics Stats uis unesco org Retrieved 15 August 2015 The World Factbook Sri Lanka 14 November 2022 UNESCO Institute for Statistics Stats uis unesco org Retrieved 15 August 2015 UNICEF At a glance Myanmar Retrieved 27 November 2009 UNESCO 2015 Myanmar Youth literacy rate Globalis Archived from the original on 19 July 2010 Retrieved 15 August 2015 ADULT AND YOUTH LITERACY UNESCO September 2012 a b c UNESCO Institute for Statistics Stats uis unesco org Retrieved 15 August 2015 UNESCO Institute for Statistics Stats uis unesco org Retrieved 15 August 2015 Literay rate in Pakistan slips by 2 UNESCO Institute for Statistics Stats uis unesco org Retrieved 15 August 2015 Educating India Source Scribd Retrieved 15 September 2011 Basu Kaushik 29 November 2004 Educating India Source Scribd Retrieved 15 September 2011 a b c d The Challenges for India s Education System PDF Source Chatham House Retrieved 15 September 2011 a b Global campaign for education more teachers needed Source UNICEF India Retrieved 15 September 2011 Primary Education in India Key Problems PDF Source Dise Retrieved 15 September 2011 Social Exclusion of Scheduled Caste Children from Primary Education in India PDF Source UNICEF Retrieved 15 September 2011 India s Literacy Panorama Source Education for all in India Retrieved 15 September 2011 a b Gender Inequalities and Demographic Behaviour PDF Source Snap3 Retrieved 15 September 2011 xyz a b c Jayant Pandurang Nayaka Syed Nurullah 1974 A students history of education in India 1800 1973 6 ed Macmillan a b c Literacy as seen in the 2001 census PDF Union Budget a b Census 2011 Literacy rate and sex ratio in India since 1901 to 2011 Jagranjosh com 13 October 2016 Retrieved 27 July 2018 a b India Talks Amartya Sen MediaWeb India retrieved 20 September 2009 would make India literate in 40 years and the nationalist leaders rightly laughed it out of court on the grounds that India did not have the patience to remain for 40 years without Universal Literacy Now 50 years have gone by and the country is still half illiterate two thirds of the women are illiterate Hunter William Wilson Sir et al 1908 Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908 1931 Clarendon Press Oxford a b c India 2005 Economic Survey 2004 05 a b Statistical Pocket Book India 2003 India 2005 published by Publications Division Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India Tripura beats Kerala in literacy The Times of India 8 September 2013 K R Nayar Anant Kumar July 2005 Health Analysis Kerala and Bihar A Comparison Yojana 49 SSRN 1354541 The inter sectoral action needs to be recognized for achieving any health improvement in Bihar a b c Census 2011 Provisional Population Tools PDF The Hindu Chennai India a b Literacy Rate on the Rise 11th Plan Targets 80 The India Post 4 September 2008 retrieved 28 November 2009 In all the States and Union Territories the male literacy rate except Bihar 59 68 is now over 60 TABLE 6 STATE WISE LITERACY RATES PDF Report Office of Registrar General India 2011 Tom Sticht 7 July 2004 Paradigms of Learning The Total Literacy Campaign in India archived from the original on 27 December 2005 retrieved 30 November 2009 I served as a member of UNESCO s International Jury for Literacy Prizes in 1981 when the jury awarded a prize to the Department of Adult Education of the state of Bihar for its massive state wide literacy campaign a b c d Manoranjan Mohanty 2004 Class caste and gender Volume 5 of Readings in Indian government and politics SAGE ISBN 0 7619 9643 5 Dalits did not send their children to the regular school because they were humiliated Even when there is no overt social discrimination cannot afford books and stationery cannot afford the bribes without which it is impossible to be offered a job a b Bihar teachers under attendance watch Bihar Times 10 September 2009 archived from the original on 3 January 2010 retrieved 30 November 2009 the government last month warned that salaries of teachers in government schools would not be paid if they failed to ensure at least 75 percent attendance STATUS OF LITERACY PDF 19 January 2012 Retrieved 25 December 2020 Tripura tops literacy rate with 94 65 percent leaves behind Kerala News18 9 September 2013 Archived from the original on 13 September 2013 Tripura beats Kerala in literacy chart 8 September 2013 via The Hindu How Tripura became India s top literate state Governance Now 9 September 2013 a b c d Amita Singh 2005 Administrative reforms towards sustainable practices SAGE ISBN 0 7619 3392 1 the social and administrative mechanism that led to the success of the campaign included several measures a b c d Jean Dreze Amartya Sen 2002 India development and participation Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 925749 3 Himachal Pradesh s transition from mass illiteracy to near universal elemensdddtary education has been even more impressive than Kerala s taken place over a much shorter period in time in Himachal Pradesh than in Kerala where sustained educational expansion began in the 19th century Vanlalchhawna 2006 Higher education in North East India unit cost analysis Mittal Publications ISBN 81 8324 056 9 from 31 14 in 1951 to 88 8 in 2001 an increase of 57 7 whereas the all India literacy rates Lalit Kumar Jha 1997 Natural Resource Management Mizoram APH Publishing ISBN 81 7024 781 0 Mizoram has certainly distinguished itself amongst the states of India a closely knit society village councils having a definite bearing on the social and administrative setups educational facilities a b Mizoram imparts a lesson in literacy to the country Rediff 22 November 1999 retrieved 6 December 2009 The Mizoram government drew up a detailed plan primed towards achieving total literacy Each animator was given the task of teaching five persons at a time the Centre has laid stress on this program sanctioning 4567 000 to establish 360 Continuing Education Centres and 40 more nodal centers spread across the state Tamil Nadu India s most literate state HRD ministry City The Times of India Timesofindia indiatimes com 14 May 2003 Retrieved 1 September 2010 a b c d India fights illiteracy with lunch Asia Times 20 May 2008 archived from the original on 19 November 2008 retrieved 28 November 2009 noon meal scheme for children was first pioneered in 1982 by iconic movie star and Tamil Nadu chief minister M G Ramachandran 1917 1987 the world s first film hero to head a government MGR as he was called started the free lunch for school children scheme ignoring cynics who said it was an electoral gimmick and economists who said it made little fiscal sense a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint unfit URL link Geeta Gandhi Kingdon March 2007 The progress of school education in India PDF Global Poverty Research Group Economic and Social Research Council retrieved 28 November 2009 In late 2001 the Indian Supreme Court directed all states to implement the Mid Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every government and government assisted primary school with a prepared midday meal with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8 12 grams of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days By 2006 the MDM scheme was near universal in all states the central government provides grains funds transportation and also pays food preparation costs though the state government is responsible for providing the physical infrastructure for cooking the meals The scheme provides lunch to about 120 million children every school day and as such is the largest school meal scheme in the world a b A spectacular march by Rajasthan Frontline The Hindu 7 December 2001 archived from the original on 17 September 2008 retrieved 28 November 2009 Rajasthan s improvement recorded the highest percentage increase in literacy rate among the Indian states the percentage point increase in female literacy is the highest in Andhra Pradesh a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint unfit URL link a b Dey Anindo 6 October 2008 Rajasthan passes literacy test with flying colors Times of India retrieved 28 November 2009 thanks to some public initiatives taken like the Lok Jumbish and the Shiksha Karmi a b UNESCO UNESCO archived from the original on 5 July 2009 National Literacy Mission website Nlm nic in Archived from the original on 24 August 2010 Retrieved 1 September 2010 2 decades on literacy mission still short of target Zee News 5 May 2008 Retrieved 5 January 2018 Thakur D N 1 January 2004 Primary Education And Adult Literacy 2Nd ed Deep amp Deep Publications ISBN 9788176294904 via Google Books Shantha Sinha s Magsaysay Award Citation Rmaf org ph 31 August 2003 Archived from the original on 26 April 2012 Retrieved 1 September 2010 Sources editNSO 2018 Household Social Consumption on Education in India PDF Report Retrieved 26 November 2020 Further reading editCalvi Rossella Federico Mantovanelli and Lauren Hoehn Velasco The Protestant Legacy Missions and Human Capital in India 2019 online Chaudhary Latika and Manuj Garg Does history matter Colonial education investments in India Economic History Review 68 3 2015 937 961 Chaudhary Latika Taxation and educational development Evidence from British India Explorations in Economic History 47 3 2010 279 293 online Chaudhary Latika Determinants of primary schooling in British India Journal of Economic History 2009 269 302 online Natarajan Dandapani Extracts from the All India Census Reports on Literacy 2016 page 11 onlineExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Literacy in India National Literacy Mission Indian Census National Literacy Policies India Need for literacy in India Growth of literacy in India Literacy in the context of constitution of India Find details about Literacy in India Literacy as seen in the 2001 census Frontline article Education for too few 5 December 2003 usurped The Hindu article Two word mantra 1 February 2004 usurped Times of India editorial Learn to change 28 July 2006 The Statesman editorial Institutionalised sub literacy 22 August 2006 Left behind by Bangladesh The Telegraph report on 2 October 2005 Provisional Population Totals for Census 2011 31 March 2011 India languishes in its villages NSSO Survey India Literacy Project a catalyst for 100 literacy in India Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Literacy in India amp oldid 1190849644, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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