LITERACY PERSPECTIVE IN INDIA

S. V. Raghunath

Introduction

Education is a process aimed at all-round development of the individual. Education of non-literate adults in the productive age group of 15-35 years was considered an essential task set to be achieved by the Nation. Adult Education is the education of the adult for improving his/her quality of life. As life expands, the education of the adult must also expand. This expanding process of education is all within the sphere of the adult. Even though there were some efforts from the State and Central Governments besides voluntary efforts from the Non-Governmental organisations in the past, the objective of eradicating illiteracy among the adults could not be achieved. The failure to achieve universal literacy was mainly due to not being able to implement the policy of providing free and compulsory primary education upto the age of 14 years as visualised in the Directive Principles of state policy enshrined in the Constitution of India. In order to achieve the objective of universal literacy a two pronged approach has been adapted. One approach is to ensure education of children in the age group of 6-14 years and the other is to implement literacy programme for non-literate adults in the age group of 15-35 years. However the latter was reflected in the political will of the nation. Realising the gravity of illiteracy status in the country, the National Adult Education Programme was launched in the year 1978 with the objective of imparting literacy to 100 million adult non-literates in the age group of 15-35 years with in a period of 5 years. This was initiated in accordance with the policy decision of 1977 by the Government of India. Later on the literacy movement gained momentum with National Literacy Mission, Total Literacy Campaign and Sarvasiksha Abhiyan (Education for All) programmes being implemented by the State and Central Governments. Though the magnitude of the problem of illiteracy was realised by the people at the helm of affairs it is a matter of great distress that the targets could not be achieved.

Growth of Literacy - in The Past Five Decades

The Census definition of literacy is the ability to read and write with understanding in any language. It is not necessary for a person to have received any formal education or passed any examination for being qualified as a literate. A person who can read but cannot write is treated as non-literate.

The following Table gives the growth of literacy for the country as a whole since 1951.

Sex Census Year

1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Males 27.2 40.4 46.4 46.4 64.1 75.9

Females 8.9 15.4 22.0 29.8 39.3 54.2

Literacy 18.3 28.3 34.5 43.6 52.2 65.4

Rate

Note: Literary rates (percentage literature to population) for 1951, 1961 and 1971 censuses relate to population and aged 5 and above. The rates for the 1981, 1991 and 2001 censuses relate to the population aged 7 and above.

Source: Registration General and Census Commissioner; India (2001. Provisional Population Totals, Paper-1 of 2001, New Delhi

From a low level of 18.3% in 1951, the literacy rate in India more than tripled to 65.4% in 2001. Since the population of the country has grown much faster than the rate of literacy, the absolute number of non-literate persons increased steadily from 1951 to 2001. The 2001 Census, however, revealed that the total number of non-literate persons has declined to 296 million from 328 million in 1991. For the first time since independence there was a decline in the absolute number of non-literates during this decade. Despite the above fact, one would be astonished to note that the number of non-literate persons of age 7 and above in India is equal to the entire population of United States of America.

Level of literacy among states in India

There is substantial variation in the level of literacy among States of India. Kerala, with a literacy rate of 91 % occupied the first rank, while the state of Bihar with a literacy rate of 47.5% occupied the last position in the country. Among the 20 states with population of 5 million or more, Maharashtra with a literacy rate of 77.3% comes next after Kerala, followed by Himachal Pradesh (77.1 %), Tamil Nadu (73.5%). Uttaranchal (72.3%) and Gujarat (70%). There are 10 states including Andhra Pradesh where the literacy rates in 2001 are lower than the national average of 65.4%.

Female literacy in India

The high proportion of non-literate women, a major feature of the educational situation in India stands out strikingly in the Census figures. At the beginning of the last century, the level of female literacy was extra-ordinarily low; of every 1000 females only 6 were literate. Since then the female literacy had progressed slowly and in 1951, only about 9% of females aged 5 and above were literate. There were many reasons for the tardy progress of female literacy during the pre-independence era. It should be mentioned that the status and the general conditions of the Indian women were not favourable. There were hardly any facilities available for separate schooling for girls. Moreover, the number of adequately trained women teachers was negligible in those years. The social norms which were prevailing in the Indian society was not in favour of sending girls to school. The high incidence of child marriage in many parts of India was another factor which deprived the opportunities for women to acquire education.

The post-independence period witnessed notable progress in the efforts to eradicate the mass illiteracy of the female population. Many measures were introduced by the government to improve the position of women in the society. Special Acts such as Marriage Act (1954), Hindu Marriage Act (1955), Succession Act (1956) and the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1978 were passed in the Parliament to improve the status of Indian women. As a result, the female literacy has progressed steadily over the years. During the last 50 years, the female literacy rate increased by six times, from 8.9% in 1951 to 54.2% in 2001.

Female Literacy Rates for Major States of India 2001

% literate among States

female, age 7+

65 and above Kerala (87.9), Himachal Pradesh (68.1), Maharashtra (67.5),

60-65 Tamil Nadu(64.6), Punjab(63.6), Uttaranchal(60.3) West Bengal(60.2)

55-59 Gujarat (58.6), Karnataka (57.5), Haryana (56.3), Assam (56.0)

50-54 Chattisgarh (52.4), Andhra Pradesh (51.2), Orissa (51.0),

Madhya Pradesh (50.3)

Less than 50 Rajasthan (44.3), Uttar Pradesh (43.0), Jammu & Kashmir (41.8),

Jharkhand (39.4), Bihar (33.6)

Note: Literary rates are shown for 20 major states with population of 5 million or more in 2001. Figures in parentheses are percentages for the respective states.

Female literacy, an important indicator of empowerment of women varies from the lowest level of 33.6% in Bihar to the highest level of 87.9% in Kerala. : The national average is 54.2%. Kerala’s achievement in the progress of eradicating female illiteracy is something unique in India. There is no other major state in India which is comparable to Kerala as far as literacy is concerned. Even Maharashtra which ranks next to Kerala does not come anywhere near to Kerala’s achievement. Besides Maharashtra, there are only five major states, namely Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttaranchal and West Bengal where female literacy rates are between 60% and 74%. Nine major states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Bihar have female literacy levels well below the national average.

It is of interest to note that during the decade 1991-2001 female literacy had grown faster than male literacy. For the country as a whole, while female literacy increased by 15 percentage points during 1991-2001, male literacy increased by only 12 percentage points. In the states of Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, female literacy increased by more than 20 percentage points between 1991 and 2001. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar and Uttaranchal have recorded an increment of 19 percentage points in female literacy during this period. In general, it is observed that the percentage points gain during 1991-2001 decade is more in those states where female literacy levels in 1991 were low. Kerala has shown a meager increase of 1.7 percentage points during 1991-2001 decade. Since the state has already achieved a high level of literacy, further large increase in literacy is just not possible.

The problem of gender disparity in literacy

The gender disparity in literacy rate can be examined by means of two indices: female/male ratio of literacy rates and the ratio of the number of female literates to 1000 male literates. In the absence of gender disparity in literacy level, female/male ratio of literacy rate should be equal to unity and the ratio of female literates to 1000 male literates should be equal to 1000. Lower the ratio, larger the gender disparity in literacy rate.

For the country as a whole, significant gender disparity in literacy rates exist, but these are narrowing with the passage of time, by a rising trend in the ratio of female literacy rate to the male literacy rate. This ratio has increased steadily from 0.33 in 1951 to 0.71 in 2001. Likewise, the number of female literates per 1000 male literates has also shown an increasing trend, from 304 in 1951 to 667 in 2001. The upward trend in these two measures indicate that gender disparity in literacy rate has reduced over the decades and female literacy rate is gradually catching up with male literacy rate.

Gender Disparity in Literacy, India 1951-2001

Gender Disparity

Index Census Year

1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Female/Male ratio

of literacy rate 0.33 0.38 0.48 0.53 0.61 0.71

Female literates per

1000 Male literates 304 354 440 490 565 667

Analyses of 2001 Census data reveal the existence of a strong relationship between the level of literacy and gender disparity in literacy. States with high levels of literacy tend to have small gender differentials in literacy, while states with low literacy levels are more likely to have large gender differentials in literacy rate. By increasing the overall literacy level or female literacy rate, gender differentials in literacy are expected to reduce.

Summing Up

During 1991-2001 the literate population aged 7 and above in India have grown more than twice as fast as the total population aged 7 and above. For the first time since Independence the absolute number of non-literates in the country declined to 32 million during 1991-2001. This decade also witnessed that the female literacy rate had grown faster than male literacy rate. However there exists wide variation in the level of literacy, ranging from the lowest rate of 47.5% in Bihar to the highest of 91 % in Kerala. Gender disparities in literacy rates are observed, but they are gradually narrowing over the years. Projections of trends in literacy rates indicate that, if 1991-2001 trend continues, it would take another 26 years for the goal of universal literacy to be achieved all over India. If special efforts are made to accelerate the pace of eradicating illiteracy in the laggard states like Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh,. Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh where current levels of literacy are much lower than the national average, this goal could be achieved sooner. It is therefore necessary to initiate steps with innovative techniques, such as concentrating on low female literacy districts / blocks, special literacy drives on tribal pockets in various states; addressing the tri goals of 100% enrollment retention and achievement among the children in the age group of 6-14 etc. to realise the dream of Education for All by 2015 so that all the disadvantaged groups of people will have access to the opportunity structure, thereby enabling them to enjoy the fruits of democracy and socialism in letter and spirit.

It was the custom of Adolf Hitler reclining on the cot and watching the mice nibble at the crumbs of bread which he invariably scattered on the floor right before. He muses “I had known so much poverty in my life that I was well able to imagine the hunger and also the pleasure of the little creatures.”

-‘The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich’

William L. Shirer

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