COMPRASION OF ILLITERACY WITHIN THE COUNTRY AND WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

 India has made most progress in improving life expectancy, literacy, but has been slower in improving the level of income, and reducing infant mortality rates when compared to five other nations.

Literacy is one of the most essential indicators of the quality of a country’s human capital. Latest data puts India’s adult literacy rate at 73.2 percent. While the country has made significant progress in improving literacy over the years, it continues to be home to 313 million illiterate people; 59 percent of them are women.

The high rates of illiteracy among Indian women—and the corollary gender gap in literacy attainment—are attributable to many social, economic and cultural factors. Even as the benefits of female education are public—including a more productive workforce, lower fertility and lower infant mortality—the costs such as tuition fees and school supplies as well as opportunity costs of forgone child labour, are privately borne by households. This leads to underinvestment in women’s schooling. Accentuating the disadvantage for women are the social restrictions on their mobility that prevent an educated woman from entering the labour force and offering support to her household. The educational gender gap, therefore, is not only a reflection of the low economic returns to female education but is also a symptom of the entrenched biases that discourage the aspirations of women and other marginalised communities.

Most official reports focus on studying the adult literacy rate which measures literacy among individuals aged 15 years and above. However, a focus on just adult literacy is likely to underestimate the progress India has made in improving its literacy outcomes. The adult literacy rate for both males and females increases at a relatively sluggish rate since most of the progress in literacy occurs through improvement in child and youth literacy. Therefore it is important to study the gender gap in literacy for different age cohorts to get a clear understanding of the literacy landscape in the country and identify the key challenges constraining a convergence between male and female literacy. It is the primary aim of this brief.

State-wise adult literacy performance

Latest NSS Data found Mizoram to be the most literate state in India, with an adult literacy rate of 98 percent; Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, is the least literate state, with an adult literacy rate of 61 percent.

 The  five states with the highest rates of illiteracy are UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Maharashtra. These states make up 34 percent of the country’s total population of illiterate adults. These numbers highlight the lack of improvement in literacy at the state level. It is noteworthy that these states have historically had extremely low literacy rates. Data from the 43rd NSS Round (1987-88) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (2017-18) show that all states have been able to make remarkable progress in literacy. Thus, all states conform to the first finding from this analysis: that literacy in India has improved over the past three decades.

India made progress comparable with China, Malaysia on literacy

In 2015, seven of every 10 Indians, 15 years and above, could read and write a simple, short statement related to their everyday life, with understanding, according to estimates from the United Nations (UN). The share of literates in India’s population rose 30 percentage points since 1980--the earliest year for which data are available for this indicator--when four of every 10 Indians were literate.

In 1951, only two in every ten  Indians, five years and above, were literate, according to independent India’s first Census, which In 1951, only two in every 10 Indians five years and above, were literate, according to independent India’s first Census, which defined literacy as anybody who could “write a letter to a friend and…read the reply”.)

India has made equal or more progress than all other countries in improving literacy between 1980 and 2015--the time period over which comparative data are available--shows our analysis of India and five other countries, based on data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

As India started off at a lower level of literacy in 1980, the scope for progress was much greater compared to, say, South Korea, where 94% of the population, 15 years and above, was literate in 1980, or Brazil where 74.5% of the population was literate. The gap between India, and Brazil, South Korea and Malaysia is now lower than it was in 1980, showing that India is catching up with these countries’ literacy rates. The share of literates in India was 53 percentage points lower than in South Korea in 1980, 29 percentage points lower than in Malaysia, 34 percentage points lower than in Brazil. In 2015, India’s literacy rate was 22 percentage points lower than Brazil, 24 percentage points lower than Malaysia, and 27 percentage points lower than South Korea.as anybody who could “write a letter to a friend and…read the reply”.)

India has made equal or more progress than all other countries in improving literacy between 1950 and 2015 -the time period over which comparative data are available--shows our analysis of India and five other countries, based on data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

As India started off at a lower level of literacy in 1980, the scope for progress was much greater compared to, say, South Korea, where 94% of the population, 15 years and above, was literate in 1980, or Brazil where 74.5% of the population was literate.

The gap between India, and Brazil, South Korea and Malaysia is now lower than it was in 1980, showing that India is catching up with these countries’ literacy rates. The share of literates in India was 53 percentage points lower than in South Korea in 1980, 29 percentage points lower than in Malaysia, 34 percentage points lower than in Brazil. In 2015, India’s literacy rate was 22 percentage points lower than Brazil, 24 percentage points lower than Malaysia, and 27 percentage points lower than South Korea.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS INFORMATION

SHAGUN

AMITY UNIVERSITY, RAJASTHAN