\n\n<\/span>Illiteracy and Disparities in Education<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nIndia has made steady progress since gaining its Independence in 1947.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- The 2011census illustrated a literacy rate increase from 18.33% in 1951 to 74.4% in 2011<\/span><\/li>\n
- Number of Indians that can read and write now stands at 778.45 million<\/span><\/li>\n
- Number of illiterates has dropped from 304.15 million in 2001 to 272.95 million in 2011<\/span><\/li>\n
- Most increasing trend is narrowing down of the gender gap in education<\/span><\/li>\n
- Male literacy rate has increased to 82.14% while the female literacy rate has increased to 65.46%<\/span><\/li>\n
- Male- Female literacy gap has reduced from 21.59% in 2001 to 16.68% in 2011<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Country Objectives for 2012\/2015\/2017<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n- Enable neo-literate* adults to continue learning<\/span><\/li>\n
- Begin skill development programmes to improve earning and learning conditions<\/span><\/li>\n
- Promote a learning society by providing opportunities for neo-literate adults to continue their education<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
*A neo-literate is an individual who has completed a basic literacy training program and has demonstrated the ability and willingness to continue to learn on their own using the skills and knowledge attained without the direct guidance of a literacy teacher.<\/span><\/p>\nProblems that are affecting access to education<\/span><\/h3>\n\n- Gender disparities<\/span><\/li>\n
- Regional disparities<\/span><\/li>\n
- Social disparities<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Current Literacy Initiatives<\/span><\/h3>\n\n- Saakshar Bharat is a revised version of the National Literacy Mission implemented by the Prime Minister of India to create an increasingly literate society. At independence, 86% of the India\u2019s population was illiterate. Contributing factors were put down to wide gender, social and regional disparities.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The Literacy Initiative launched in 2009 introduced a number of teaching and learning programs that had a set focus on increasing literacy delivery standards for women. The government identified that women were the \u2018force multiplier- the key program instrument to creating a better society. By the emancipating and empowering Indian women, improvement would be seen across school education, skill development, and health. These were said to be otherwise impeded by female illiteracy.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The program is capable of increasing rural female literacy and reducing the gender gap in literacy for non and neo-literate adults and youth living in rural areas. The program aims to further promote and strengthen adult education, with a primary focus on women, by extending education options to those adults who have not had the opportunity to gain an education previously.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Strategy<\/span><\/h3>\nComprehensive programs focusing on post-literacy and continuing education will be provided for neoliterates and youth who have received primary education and need to upgrade their literacy skills to harness improvement of their living and working condition.<\/span><\/p>\nFour key objectives:<\/span><\/h4>\n\n- Impart functional literacy and numeracy to non-literate and non numerate adults<\/span><\/li>\n
- Enable the neo-literate adults to continue their learning beyond basic literacy and acquire equivalency to formal education system<\/span><\/li>\n
- Impart non and neo-literates relevant skill development programmes to improve their earning and living conditions<\/span><\/li>\n
- Promote a learning society by providing opportunities to neo-literate adults for continuing education<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The government seeks to achieve an 80% literacy rate by 2012, and reduce the gender gap in literacy by 10%. A specific focus will be targeted on castes, tribes, minorities and disadvantaged groups. With 84% of the Indian illiterate population living in rural areas, the program will be implemented across eligible rural districts. Adult education centres have been proposed to be set up to coordinate and manage the programs.<\/span><\/p>\nTo respond to the demand for literacy and address the need of non and neo-literate adults a number of teaching and learning programs will be implemented These programs will include functional literacy, basic education, vocational educational, and continuing education programs. Due to various social and economic problems India\u2019s education programme continues to be undercut<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Of the biggest victims of the educational system are those living in rural areas.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The attitudes of the children and teachers also affect the quality of the schools.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Allocation of government funds and the conditions of the destitute rural schools contribute to the low quality of education by rural children.<\/span><\/li>\n
- While there are many rural areas in school systems which are operating in poor conditions there is one in particular whose schools outperform most other rural schools and also those located in urban areas of India. Kerala, a rural state of India remains a puzzle to many educators. Its illiteracy rate does not follow the trend of most rural schools.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Many children living in rural areas receive a level of education which is very poor.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Overall enrolment in primary and middle schools are very low.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Fifty per cent of children living in these areas leave school before the fifth grade. These children leave school for variety of reasons: most leave so that they can work in the fields, where the hours are long and the pay is low.<\/span><\/li>\n
- A large per cent of the dropouts are females. Forced by their parents, most girls perform household chores and help the family at home. These are some of the reasons why sixty per cent of all females in India are illiterate, a figure much higher than those of males.<\/span><\/li>\n
- As these children grow into adults, many are still illiterate by the age of forty. These uneducated adults are also reluctant to send their own children to school because of their failure in the education system. This in turn creates a problem for the next generation.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The children living in rural areas continue to be deprived of a quality education, part of the reason is, due to their teachers. A large number of teachers refuse to teach in rural areas and those that do are usually under qualified<\/span><\/li>\n
- In recent years the number of qualified teachers has increased because of increased efforts by the government and private groups to improve the general education and professional training of teacher. There is need of an emphasis on the training of rural teachers, whose educational background is generally not as sound as their urban counterparts.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Those that refuse to teach in rural areas cite distance and lack of interest by students as problems. Many of the teachers also lack the enthusiasm to teach because of their meager salary-less than one hundred dollars per months.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Another obstacle faced by the schools is that obtaining more teachers for rural schools is difficult because of state guidelines that approve of high student- to-teacher ratios.\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n
- As the lack of teachers creates many obstacles for children in rural schools, another setback is the lack of resources which becomes detrimental to the learning process.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Lack of books and other reading materials seem to be a widespread problem. The use of high-tech devices such as computers is very rare.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Condition of the schools, the inadequate facilities in the classes is other obstacles. Some schools are located in warehouses while others in small houses. Many of the rural schools operate without electricity.<\/span><\/li>\n
- While many rural schools search for the proper resources, the distribution of government funds is major hindrance to the educational system.<\/span><\/li>\n
- According to a recent study done by the World Bank, thirty per cent of the total educational funding goes toward higher educational institutions. This is an important issue because the number of students enrolled in these types of institutions represents such a small per cent of India s students.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The disadvantaged people (i.e., SCs, STs, OBCs, women, and religious minorities) in our society have been terribly exploited because of their illiteracy. Some studies have been conducted on descriptions of disparity in education as evidenced in regional rural-urban, sex, and caste disparities and imbalances in enrolment and retention at school or college and the consequences of disparities.All these studies have pointed out the impact of education on the status and the identity of the disadvantaged people.<\/span><\/p>\nStudies on SCs and STs have indicated that so long these people remain educationally backward; they have to be provided protective discrimination in the form of economic support or reserved admissions to institutions of higher education.<\/span><\/p>\nOne such study was sponsored by the ICSSR in 1974 under the coordination of I.P. Desai. It covered 14 states and was concerned with the situation and problems of SC ad ST school and college students in the country. This study pointing out apathy of ST students to education, indicated that illiteracy increases inequality and prevents occupational as well as social mobility.<\/span><\/p>\nVictor D\u2019Souza traced the pattern of disparity between the education of the SCs and the others in Punjab and pointed out how the structure of caste system, caste behaviour, economic factors and the form and operation of welfare programmes influence the pattern.<\/span><\/p>\nV.P. Shah pointed out relationship between education and untouchability in Gujarat<\/span><\/h5>\n\n- Sachchidananda Sinha has described the situation of SC students of colleges in Uttar Pradesh. All these studies, thus, throw light on education as an instrument of equality for SCs and STs. Similarly, there have been studies on women too, another important category of those who are educationally disadvantaged and backward<\/span><\/li>\n
- K. Ahmad and others in terms of significance of education to their role in a developing society. Baker studied the aspirations of female students with a view to understanding the problems they encounter in making use of educational facilities. Chitnis studied the impact of co-education on Muslim women students in Bombay. All these studies point out the consequences of inequalities and the need for change.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Education acts as a refuge in adversity. It empowers the people. It is the tool that breaks the chains that resist a nation\u2019s development If the growth of a nation is to be people-centric, and if development is to be whole, then the people must be empowered and stimulated through education.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Lack of education has resulted in growth of unemployment, poverty and a substantial increase in the rate of growth of population. Most of the voters are illiterate; votes of the illiterate people do affect the election process in a major way. Mostly votes are influenced by factors such as religion and caste of the candidates.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Illiteracy has proven to be a major handicap. It has affected various sectors that determine India\u2019s growth. The educational system itself operates on nepotism and corruption. The whole system is based on rote learning, the curriculum is rarely updated and teachers in rural schools lack necessary qualifications and knowledge required for their jobs. Most of the people in rural areas live below the poverty line, and thus can\u2019t afford to educate their children. The funds that the Government provides for the same, get exhausted before reaching the right people, and, lie in the pockets of corrupt officers.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Education is related to equality of opportunity. This is perceived on the basis of the findings of one empirical study conducted in eight states in1967 on the social background of students (age, sex, caste, father\u2019s occupation, father\u2019s education, etc.) studying at various levels \u2013 high school college and professional colleges. This study presented two possible propositions:<\/span><\/li>\n
- Education is a priority with those in the white- collar group, and children in this group use educational facilities more than other groups; and Education is differentially available to those who do not belong to white collar group If the first proposition is correct, it probably underlines the irrelevance of education to non white collar groups in our society. Their lack of interest in secondary education arises out of the fact that for the occupations they aspire to, secondary education makes no meaningful contribution. This throws light on the defective planning of our education and the \u2018backwardness\u2019 of the underprivileged groups.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Some suggestions to tackle illiteracy and disparities in education:<\/span><\/h5>\n\n- Make education till Standard XII mandatory for all, and free of cost in rural areas.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Grant 100% tax exemption to all educational institutions as well as on expenditure on education of children.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Create separate educational funds by levying 2% tax on annual income of all tax payers.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Increase government funding for education. At least 20% of the annual budget must be used for the same.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Define educational qualifications for eligibility for the post of the Education Minister as well as minimum educational qualifications for teachers in all institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Provide concession on necessities like land, electricity, etc., that are required for setting up educational institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Provide free education, in all government institutions, for citizens living below the poverty line.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Launch free-to-air educational channels to educate the masses.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Provide suitable economic compensation\/relief to parents whose children are earning members of their families, to encourage the children to study.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Provide good salary packages of government employed teachers and salary subsidies for private school teachers, to raise their living standards.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Set up a grievance cell to sort all problems of the Educational system, headed by the retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and assisted by a council of eminent people from various fields, having the status of state ministers of a cabinet<\/span><\/li>\n
- Establish institutions for the mentally\/physically challenged people, so that they can obtain free education.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Make adult education mandatory and free of cost for all illiterate adults.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
|
![\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/sociology-offline.php\"](\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-10-08-at-11.10.42-PM-150x150.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n