Beyond literacy

Blitz Bureau

TRIPURA is now the third Indian state, after Mizoram and Goa, to become a fully literate state, surpassing the 95 per cent benchmark set by the Ministry of Education for a state to be declared fully literate. Contrastingly, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar recorded the lowest literacy rates, standing at 72.6 per cent and 74.3 pc respectively.

The 80.9-pc literacy rate for the country, reported by the 2023–24 Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), shows good progress from the 74 pc recorded by the 2011 Census, but it also shows the challenges in the basic education system.

The New India Literacy Programme (NILP), started on April 1, 2022, to improve literacy among adults, has achieved some results but India’s focus has rightly been on school education. In 1947, India’s literacy rate was just 12 per cent. Today, it has fuelled economic mobility, global competitiveness, and innovation. Importantly, the report shows that the implementation of the universal literacy programme is hindered by many persisting inequalities, mainly along gender and regional lines.

A literacy level of just over 80 per cent is inadequate in a country of 140 crore people. The literacy rate is significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas. This rural-urban gap exists in all states, and is caused by uneven distribution of educational infrastructure. Serious gender disparities also exist, with male literacy significantly outpacing female literacy. The national average for men is 87.2 pc and women 74.6 pc. Though girls do well in school, many are not even sent there, and among those who do make it, a good number drop out early.

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are the worst achievers in overall literacy, and the gender literacy gap in those states is between 16 and 20 per cent. The top states show what good strategy, persistence, community support, and outreach can do for basic schooling. The states at the bottom show the inadequacy of governance and infrastructure. They also highlight how social, economic and cultural hurdles affect literacy plans and objectives.

Every state needs strategies suited to its milieu. Laggard states need to pay greater attention to their literacy levels because, by keeping large sections of people illiterate, they are pulling down not just themselves, but also the nation. An illiterate population is a demographic liability. A high literacy percentage is not enough as literacy is evolving. Just as the industrial era demanded reading and writing, the digital era demands a new kind of fluency. Education should improve from basic levels to the highest levels for it to result in true empowerment.

We live in an era where technology, particularly the internet, has become an inseparable part of all aspects of our lives. In the twenty-first century, digital literacy is essential to maintain informed societies and powerful democracies; it is no longer optional. India has been at the forefront of building and promoting digital infrastructure as a public good. This should be accompanied by a campaign to improve digital literacy in the country. India’s journey in implementing digital literacy reflects its firm intent to promote a digitally and financially inclusive society. It is time to go beyond literal literacy to achieve the ambitious goal of Viksit Bharat @ 2047.

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