Just jotted down few lines....someone prompted me to give a small write-up on female literacy in India....some notes on the issue.
With the enumeration process steadily recording data of our country, a quick idea of the last census is essential. According to last census held in 2001, the percentage of female literacy in the country is 54.16%. The literacy rate in the country has increased from 18.33% in 1951 to 65.38% as per 2001 census. The female literacy rate has also increased from 8.86% in 1951 to 54.16%. It is noticed that the female literacy rate during the period 1991-2001 increased by 14.87% whereas male literacy rate rose by 11.72%. Hence the female literacy rate actually increased by 3.15% more compared to male literacy rate.
Though this seems to be hopeful, we are yet miles away from the vision of establishing a KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY – a dream shared by our former President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam too. The Right to Education is now a constitutional right to ensure the creation of a knowledge community – of both men and women. Yes, Women!!! The women populace of our country has not progressed like their male counterparts. The National Literacy Mission lists a variety of factors to be responsible for poor female literate rate historically in our country, viz, gender based inequality, social discrimination and economic exploitation, occupation of girl child in domestic chores, low enrolment of girls in schools, low retention rate and high dropout rate.
Though this seems to be hopeful, we are yet miles away from the vision of establishing a KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY – a dream shared by our former President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam too. The Right to Education is now a constitutional right to ensure the creation of a knowledge community – of both men and women. Yes, Women!!! The women populace of our country has not progressed like their male counterparts. The National Literacy Mission lists a variety of factors to be responsible for poor female literate rate historically in our country, viz, gender based inequality, social discrimination and economic exploitation, occupation of girl child in domestic chores, low enrolment of girls in schools, low retention rate and high dropout rate.
The level of literacy has a direct impact on women’s lives, on their families’ lives and on their country’s economic development. Several studies show that literate women have low levels of fertility and mortality, better nutritional status, higher earning potential, and more autonomy within the household. Autonomy is defined as decision making power within the home, economic and social self-reliance, confidence in interacting with the outside world (Jejeebhoy, 1995). A woman’s lack of education also has a negative impact on the health and well being of her children. For instance, a recent survey in India found that infant mortality was inversely related to mother’s educational level. Additionally, the lack of an educated population can be an impediment to the country’s economic development.
It could be observed as a matter of fact that the states which recorded low female literacy rate than the female literacy rate at national level (Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and Jharkhand) are also the states with average literacy rate lower than the national average of 65.4%. Literacy rate of SC females compared to general population was much lower in the states of Bihar (15.58%),Jharkhand (22.55%),Uttar Pradesh (30.50%) and Rajasthan (33.87%) in 2001 and continues to be worrisome in the case of the ST females in many states. The percentage of learners of SCs and STs under literacy Campaigns are 23% and 12% respectively concluding the need to promote effective literacy missions among the less-privileged sections of our population and with a special focus on the females is essential beyond any doubt.
The 15th census provisional population totals are available, and it is time for adequate action in this direction to improve female literacy. The literacy rate for males and females works out to 82.14 per cent and 65.46 per cent respectively. The increase in literacy rate in males and females during 2001-2011 is in the order of 6.88 and 11.79 percentage points respectively. It is encouraging to note that out of total of 217,700,941 literates added during the decade, female 110,069,001 outnumber male 107,631,940.
More relevant statistics in this regard is to analyze the gap between male and female literacy rates. The gap of 21.59 percentage points recorded between male and female literacy rates in 2001 Census has reduced to 16.68 percentage points in 2011. Planning Commission has set up target of reducing this gap to 10 percentage points by the year 2011-2012. The States/Union Territories which have achieved male-female gap in literacy rate of 10 percentage points or less are Chandigarh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Lakshadweep, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
The effective literacy rate in Andhra Pradesh has improved from 60.5% in 2001 to 67.7% in 2011. There has a significant increase in the effective female literacy rate in the state from 50.4% in 2001 to 59.7% in 2011. The effective male literacy rate in Andhra Pradesh has also shown a gradual increase from 70.3% in 2001 to 76.6% in 2011.
A revision of the population figures after a decade calls for a re-look at our policies and missions to secure the future of the girl child. Education remains the right move in the right direction by consensus. There is an urgent need to enhance the access to education amongst the female population. Amartya Sen aptly calls Development as Access. And all efforts deliberated to expand and strengthen the access will certainly mark the realization of the developmental goals at the grassroot levels.
