Indian women’s literacy rate increased by 68% since Independence: Report
- Kerala is the most literate state in the country with 92.2%, followed by union territory Lakshadweep (91.85%)
The literacy rate of Indian women has grown over the years. According to the World Bank India report, only 1 of 11 girls was literate at the time of India's independence, about nine percent. And at present, the women's literacy rate has jumped to 77% while India's male literacy rate stands at 84.7%.
As per the governemnt's National Sample Survey report, Kerala is the most literate state in the country with 92.2%, followed by union territory Lakshadweep (91.85%). The third-most literate state in the country is Mizoram (91.33%). Whereas Bihar has the lowest literacy rate in India at 61.8%, followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 65.3% and Rajasthan at 66.1%.
However, around 12.6% of students drop out of school in India, and 19.8% discontinued education at the secondary level.
The number is significantly higher for girls as they get married early and in many communities educating girls is not even a priority and is seen as an unnecessary cost. Globally, 1.8 million girls get married underage.
In India, the literacy rate, including the female literacy rate is abysmally low in rural areas and in some pockets of urban areas. The literacy rate in rural India is 67.77% as compared to 84.11% in urban India.
The Ministry of Education launched Samagra Shiksha Scheme in 2018-19 that envisaged the school as a continuum from preschool, primary, upper primary, and secondary to senior secondary levels.
Besides, the centrally sponsored scheme of Adult Education – Saakshar Bharat was also launched to improve the literacy rate among adults.
The scheme was implemented in the rural areas of 404 districts in 26 states and one Union Territory, which had an adult female literacy rate of 50% and below as per Census 2001.
The scheme was extended up to March 31, 2018. During the implementation of Saakshar Bharat scheme, against the overall target of making 7.00 crore adult non-literates as literates, around 7.64 crore learners who passed the biannual Basic Literacy Assessment Tests conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) between August, 2010 to March, 2018, were certified as literates.
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First Published:15 Mar 2023, 01:38 PM IST
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