Education for every one

Aditi Panda

8th September was declared by UNESCO as the International Literacy Day at its 14th Session in November 1966. This day is meant to call for creating awareness and mobilising public belief in favour of the fight against illiteracy. Keeping in view the scale of literacy in India, eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major concerns of the Government since independence.  Besides, universalization of primary education, efforts to promote adult literacy and adult education has been enhanced over the years.

“The wider adult population has not benefited to the same extent in some regions. It is a troubling fact that there are now more adults without literacy compared with 50 years ago, meaning that our efforts have not kept pace with population growth,” said Qian Tang, UNESCO education assistant director-general, in the 50th International Literacy Day Review.

He notes that the international community already has its eyes on 2030 with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has aimed to ensure inclusive and quality education for all as well as promote lifelong learning within its goals. He further said that there are currently about 758 million youth and adults who have been “excluded from the network of written communication”.

As per the latest review that there were about 43.9 million illiterate young people in 2015 and this will continue “for decades” due to acute poverty and political conflict. However, Southern Asia has made “extensive growth” since 1990 and the regional youth literacy rate has seen a rise from 60 per cent in 1990 to almost 90 per cent in 2015.

In India, the adult literacy rate has increased by merely 18.4 % in 15 years. It was 61 % in 2000 and 72.2 % in 2015. Nepal and Pakistan have seen the most growth among South Asian nations with 33 and 32.2 % increase in adult literacy during the same period, closely followed by Bangladesh at 29.5 %.

“More emphasis should be given to girl education and girl dropouts should be decreased by making education more accessible. Each person has the right to study according to individual interest. If this is allowed the literacy rate in the country will certainly boost up“, shares Kunal Mohapatra, a MBA student.

“The definition of literacy does not mean the ability to sign your own name but in fact it is to be able to take the right decisions in your life. The importance of education is different for every person but studying is necessary. Literacy does help to transform the conventional mindset of the community and help the country to develop faster”, says Sanghamitra Mohanty, teaching since last 21 years.

The International Literacy Day is a gentle reminder to the world on the status of literacy and to take fast measures to wipe illiteracy globally.

(Aditi is a freelance writer and pursues interest in the area of social issues)