(www.nlm.nic.

in )

The Census 2001 provisional reports indicate that India has made
significant progress in the field of literacy during the decade since the
previous census in 1991.The literacy rate in 2001 has been recorded at
64.84% as against 52.21% in 1991.The 12.63 percentage points
increase in the literacy rate during the period is the highest increase in
any decade.Also for the first time there is a decline in the absolute
number of non-literates during the past 10 years.The total number of
non literates has come down from 328 million in 1991 to 304 million in
2001.During 1991-2000, the population in 7+ age group increased by
176 millions while 201 million additional persons became literate during
that period.Out of 864 million people above the age of 7 years, 560
million are now literates.Three-fourths of our male population and more
than half of the female population are literate.This indeed is an
encouraging indicator for us to speed up our march towards the goal of
achieving a sustainable threshold literacy rate of 75% by 2007.

The Census 2001 provisional figures also indicate that the efforts of the
nation during the past decade to remove the scourge of illiteracy have
not gone in vain.The eradication of illiteracy from a vast country like
India beset by several social and economic hurdles is not an easy
task.Realising this the National Literacy Mission was set up on 5th
May,1988 to impart a new sense of urgency and seriousness to adult
education.After the success of the areas specific,time bound, voluntary
based campaign approach first in Kottayam city and then in Ernakulum
district in Kerala in 1990,the National Literacy Mission had accepted the
literacy campaigns as the dominant strategy for eradication of illiteracy.

Out of 600 districts in the country,597 districts have already been

covered under Total Literacy Campaigns.The number of continuing
education districts is 328.The creditable performance of the National
Literacy Mission received international recognition when it was awarded
the UNESCO Noma Literacy Prize for 1999.The International Jury while
selecting NLM for the prize recognised its initiation of the Total Literacy
Campaigns and also its efforts in galvanising activities towards
integration, conservation of the environment,promotion of women's
equality,and the preservation of family customs and traditions.The Jury
also appreciated the training imparted by NLM,the teaching learning
material produced by it and the awareness created by it for the demand
for raising both the quality and quantity of primary education.

The Bureau of Adult Education and National Literacy Mission under the
Department of School Education and Literacy of the Ministry of Human
Resource Development functions as the Secretariat of the National
Literacy Mission Authority.The General Council of the NLMA is headed by
the Minister of Human Resource Development and the Executive Council
is headed by the Secretary (Elementary Education and Literacy).The
Directorate of Adult Education provides necessary technical and resource
support to the NLMA.

The National Literacy Mission was revitalised with the approval of the
Union Government on 30th September, 1999.The Mission's goal is to
attain total literacy i.e. a sustainable threshold literacy rate of 75% by
2007.The Mission seeks to achieve this by imparting functional literacy to
non-literates in the 15-35 age group.To tackle the problem of residual
illiteracy,now it has been decided to adopt an integrated approach to
Total Literacy Campaigns and Post Literacy Programme. This means the
basic literacy campaigns and post literacy programmes will be
implemented under one literacy project called 'Literacy Campaigns an
Operation Restoration' to achieve continuity,efficiency and convergence
and to minimise unnecessary time lag between the two.Post literacy
programmes are treated only as a preparatory phase for launching
Continuing Education with the ultimate aim of creating a learning society.

In order to promote decentralization,the State Literacy Mission

Authorities have been given the authority to sanction continuing
education projects to Districts and literacy related projects to voluntary
agencies in their States.
The scheme of Jan Shikshan Sansthan or Institute of People's Education
,previously known as the Scheme of Shramik Vidyapeeth was initially
evolved as a non-formal continuing education programme to respond to
the educational and vocational training needs of adults and young people
living in urban and industrial areas and for persons who had migrated
from rural to urban settings.Now the Institutes' activities have been
enlarged and infrastructure strengthened to enable them to function as
district level repositories of vocational and technical skills in both urban
and rural areas.At present there are 221 Jan Shikshan Sansthans in the
India.

Ever since its inception the National Literacy Mission has taken measures
to strengthen its partnership with NGOs and to evolve both institutional
and informal mechanisms to give voluntary organisations active
promotional role in the literacy movement.Now under the scheme of
Support to NGOs they are encouraged and provided with financial
assistance to run post literacy and continuing education programmes in
well defined areas.

In order to revitalise,re-energise and expand the role of State Resource

Centres,not only their number is being increased but also their
infrastructure and resource facilities are being strengthened to enable
them to play the role of catalytic agents in adult education.There are 25
State Resource Centres working across the country.They are mainly
responsible for organising training programmes for literacy functionaries
in the State and to prepare literacy material in local languages.

The Directorate of Adult Education ,a sub-ordinate office of the

Department of School Education and Literacy has been entrusted with
the task of monitoring and evaluating the various literacy programmes
being launched under the aegis of the National Literacy Mission.It also
provides technical and resource support to the NLM including media
support to enable it to achieve its objectives.

The National Literacy Mission is laying great stress on vigorous

monitoring and systematic evaluation of adult education programmes
launched under its aegis in the country.It has developed and circulated
guidelines for concurrent and final evaluation of the Total Literacy
Campaigns and Post Literacy Programmes. A comprehensive set of
guidelines on continuing education have also been prepared.So far about
424 Total Literacy Campaign districts and 176 Post Literacy districts have
been evaluated by the external evaluation agencies.So far 32 districts
have been externally evaluated during continuing education phase.It is
hoped that the new approach of evaluating literacy campaigns and
Continuing Education Schemes will ensure complete transparency and
enhance the credibility of the results and impact assessments.

The goals of the National Literacy Mission is to attain full literacy,

i.e., a sustainable threshold level of 75 percent by 2007.The
mission seeks to achieve this goal by imparting functional literacy
 to non-literates in the 15-35 age group. This age group has been
the focus of attention because they are in the productive and
reproductive period of life. The total literacy campaign offers
them a seconds chance, in case they missed the opportunity or
were denied access to mainstream formal education
has been enlarged to include people in the age group 9 to 14 years, in
areas not covered by the non-formal education programme, to ensure
that the benefits of TLCs are made available to out-of-school children as
well.

Special care is taken to bring disadvantaged groups like women,

scheduled castes and tribes and backward classes into the programme.
The basic objective is to create a generation which will ensure that their
children are educated, to realize the dream of Education For All.

NLM OBJECTIVES: In quantitative terms, the Mission seeks to impart

functional literacy to all non-literate persons in 15-35 age group.

In qualitative terms, functional literacy implies:

 Self-reliance in 3 R's
 Becoming aware of the causes of deprivation and moving towards
amelioration of their condition by participating in the process of
development
 Skill improvement to improve economic status and general well
being.
 Imbibing values of national integration, conservation of
environment, women's equality and observance of small family
norms etc.

GOALS FOR XI th PLAN:

 Target for XIth plan-85% Literacy rate.

 Reduction in gender gap in literacy to 10%.
 Reduction of regional,social and gender disparities.
 Use of ICT for Literacy.
 New models of Continuing Education.
THE NLM MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

The National Literacy Mission has a three-tiered structure. At the apex is the National
Literacy Mission Authority supported by the Directorate of Adult Education, which controls
the programme at the national level. The State Literacy Mission Authority directs activities
at the state level, supported by the State Directorate of Adult Education. Finally, the Zilla
Saksharta Samiti helps make the programme a reality in districts and villages all over India.
In urban areas, Nagar Palikas are being encouraged to take up the challenge.

The Zilla Saksharta Samitis are registered under the Societies Registration Act as
independent and autonomous bodies, to provide a forum for individuals and organizations to
work together. The leadership to these bodies, is provided by the district collector. All
sections of society are thus duly represented in the planning and implementation of the
programme.
 e can be no lasting peace or social development without education. This is the bedrock on which
SCO has built its priority programme to provide education for all throughout life. In this context, the
nisation's twin focus is to train the teachers who are central to the education system and to improve
ation's quality and relevance which will go a long way to reduce drop outs and ensure retention.

ESCO has consistently supported the need for researching and promoting literacy projects, programmes and
paigns with a developmental aim, in the context of its commitment to life long education. The commitment
NESCO to adult learning and the leading role it has played in the promotion of adult education has been in
lear evidence over the last five decades. The Fifth International Conference on Adult Education held in
amburg, Germany in July, 1997 marked a turning point for adult learning and for the role expected to be
yed by UNESCO and its member-countries in this fast growing field. It demonstrated the extent to which
lt education has become the key to the future. The new concept of adult education presents a challenge to
sting practices because it calls for effective networking within the formal and non-formal systems, and for
nnovation, creativity and flexibility. Adult literacy, broadly conceived as the basic knowledge and skills
ded by all in a rapid changing world, is a fundamental right. Literacy is also a catalyst for participation in
social, cultural, political and economic activities, and for learning throughout life.

UNESCO, International Literacy Institute (University of Pennsylvania, USA) and the National Literacy
ssion of India organised a major literacy meeting, the Second Asia Regional Literacy Forum in February
998 in New Delhi to consider innovations and professionalization in adult literacy. The forum reviewed
iteracy problems within the complex diversity of Asia's pluralistic society, rejected the "one size fits all
roach" for literacy eradication, and addressed the new demands on literacy skills. Literacy and linguistics,
c and cultural diversity in Asia and technology and technological innovations were among the many issues
discussed.

ver the years, UNESCO has been collaborating with the National Literacy Mission for the celebration of
International Literacy Day and in sponsoring publications on education and literacy.

1. A Literate person is a one who can with understanding both read and write a short
simple statement relevant to his everyday life.
2. Literacy is not the simple reading of word or a set of associated symbols and sounds ,
but an act of critical understanding of men's situation in the world.
3. Literacy is not an end in itself but a means of personal liberation and development
and extending individuals educational efforts involving overall inter-disciplinary
responses to concrete problems
4. A literate person is one who has acquired all the essential knowledge and skills
which enable him to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for
 effective functioning in his group and community and whose attaining in reading,
writing and numeracy make it possible to use these skills towards his own and his
community's development.

National Literacy Mission defines literacy as acquiring the skills of reading, writing and
metic and the ability to apply them to one's day-to-day life. Thus the goal of the National
acy Mission goes beyond the simple achievement of self-reliance in literacy and numeracy of
ional literacy. The achievement of functional literacy implies:

Self-reliance in 3 R's
Becoming aware of the causes of deprivation and moving towards amelioration of their
condition by participating in the process of development
Acquiring skills to improve their economics status and general well-being
Imbibing values of national integration, conservation of environment, women's equality,
observance of small family norms, etc.

acquisition of functional literacy results in empowerment and a definite improvement in the

ty of life. It helps to ensure the participation of the masses in sharing the benefits of the
mation era.

RATES AND LITERACY RATES-2001 CENSUS (PROVISIONAL)

OPULATION, NUMBER OF LITERATES AND LITERACY RATES BY SEX-2001

No
India/States
Literacy Rate 2001 Literates 2001

Person Femal
Male
s e Persons Male Female

75.2 560,687,79 336,533,71 224,154,08

INDIA 64.84 53.67
6 7 6 1

Andhra 70.3
60.47 50.43 39,934,323 23,444,788 16,489,535
Pradesh 2
Arunchal 63.8
54.34 43.53 484,785 303,281 181,504
Pradesh 3

71.2
Assam 63.25 54.61 14,015,354 8,188,697 5,826,657
8

59.6
Bihar 47.00 33.12 31,109,577 20,644,376 10,465,201
8

77.3
Chhattisgarh 64.66 51.85 11,173,149 6,711,395 4,461,754
8

87.3
Delhi 81.67 74.71 9,664,764 5,700,847 3,963,917
3

88.4
Goa 82.01 75.37 985,562 541,032 444,530
2

79.6
Gujarat 69.14 57.80 29,827,750 17,833,273 11,994,477
6

78.4
Haryana 67.91 55.73 12,093,677 7,480,209 4,613,468
9

Himachal 85.3
76.48 67.42 4,041,621 2,278,386 1,763,235
Pradesh 5

Jammu & 66.6

55.52 43.00 4,807,286 3,060,628 1,746,658
Kashmir 0

67.3
Jharkhand 53.56 38.87 11,777,201 7,646,857 4,130,344
0

76.1
Karnataka 66.64 56.87 30,434,962 17,661,211 12,773,751
0

94.2
Kerala 90.86 87.72 25,485,688 12,753,602 12,732,086
4

Madhya 63.74 76.0 50.29 31,592,563 19,672,274 11,920,289

Pradesh 6

85.9
Maharashtra 76.88 67.03 63,965,943 37,184,963 26,780,980
7

80.3
Manipur 70.53 60.53 1,310,534 753,466 557,068
3

65.4
Meghalaya 62.56 59.61 1,157,875 614,272 543,603
3

90.7
Mizoram 88.80 86.75 661,445 350,105 311,340
2

71.1
Nagaland 66.59 61.46 1,132,323 640,201 492,122
6

75.3
Orissa 63.08 50.51 19,837,055 11,992,333 7,844,722
5

75.2
Punjab 69.65 63.36 14,756,970 8,442,293 6,314,677
3

75.7
Rajasthan 60.41 43.85 27,702,010 18,047,157 9,654,853
0

76.0
Sikkim 68.81 60.40 318,335 189,060 129,275
4

82.4
Tamilnadu 73.45 64.43 40,524,545 22,809,662 17,714,883
2

81.0
Tripura 73.19 64.91 2,022,099 1,150,707 871,392
2

83.2
Uttaranchal 71.62 59.63 5,105,782 3,008,875 2,096,907
8

Uttar 68.8
56.27 42.22 75,719,284 48,901,413 26,817,871
Pradesh 2
 77.0
West Bengal 68.64 59.61 47,196,401 27,452,426 19,743,975
2

86.3
A&N Islands 81.30 75.24 253,135 146,831 106,304
3

86.1
Chandigarh 81.94 76.47 643,245 382,686 260,559
4

71.1
D&N Haveli 57.63 40.23 103,904 72,149 31,755
8

86.7
Daman & Diu 78.18 65.61 107,600 70,992 36,608
6

Lakshadwee 92.5
86.66 80.47 44,683 24,511 20,172
p 3

88.6
Pondicherry 81.24 73.90 696,367 378,758 317,609
2

LITERACY RATE 1951-2001 � INDIA

Census Persons Male Female

Year
1951 18.33 27.16 8.86
1961 28.30 40.40 15.35
1971 34.45 45.96 21.97
1981 43.57 56.38 29.76
1991 52.21 64.13 39.29
2001 64.84 75.26 53.67

racy Scenario in India (As per 2001 Census)

 racy in India has made remarkable strides since Independence.This has been
her confirmed by the results of the Census 2001. The literacy rate has increased
m 18.33% in 1951 to 64.84% in 2001. This is despite the fact that during the
jor part of the last five decades there has been exponential growth of the
pulation at nearly 2% per annum. The state-wise literacy rates are given below:

LITERACY RATE 7+ POPULATION (CENSUS 2001)

No. India/State/UT Person Male Female

India Total 64.84 75.26 53.67
Rural 58.74 70.70 46.13
Urban 79.92 86.27 72.86
JAMMU & KASHMIR Total 55.52 66.60 43.00
Rural 49.78 61.65 36.74
Urban 71.92 80.00 61.98
HIMACHAL PRADESH Total 76.48 85.35 67.42
Rural 75.08 84.51 65.68
Urban 88.95 92.04 85.03
PUNJAB Total 69.65 75.23 63.36
Rural 64.72 71.05 57.72
Urban 79.10 83.05 74.49
CHANDIGARH Total 81.94 86.14 76.47
Rural 75.58 80.98 66.37
Urban 82.64 86.78 77.40
UTTARANCHAL Total 71.62 83.28 59.63
Rural 68.07 81.78 54.70
Urban 81.44 87.05 74.77
HARYANA Total 67.91 78.49 55.73
Rural 63.19 75.37 49.27
Urban 79.16 85.83 71.34
DELHI Total 81.67 87.33 74.71
Rural 78.05 86.60 67.39
Urban 81.93 87.39 75.22
RAJASTHAN Total 60.41 75.70 43.85
Rural 55.34 72.16 37.33
Urban 76.20 86.45 64.67
UTTAR PRADESH Total 56.27 68.82 42.22
Rural 52.53 66.59 36.90
 Urban 69.75 76.76 61.73
BIHAR Total 47.00 59.68 33.12
Rural 43.92 57.09 29.61
Urban 71.93 79.94 62.59
SIKKIM Total 68.81 76.04 60.40
Rural 66.82 74.45 58.01
Urban 83.91 87.81 79.16
ARUNACHAL PRADESH Total 54.34 63.83 43.53
Rural 47.83 57.65 36.94
Urban 78.26 85.19 69.49
NAGALAND Total 66.59 71.16 61.46
Rural 62.79 67.58 57.52
Urban 84.74 87.44 81.42
MANIPUR (Excl. 3 Sub-
divisions) Total 70.53 80.33 60.53
Rural 67.29 77.31 56.95
Urban 79.28 88.71 70.01
MIZORAM Total 88.80 90.72 86.75
Rural 81.27 84.93 77.26
Urban 96.13 96.43 95.80
TRIPURA Total 73.19 81.02 64.91
Rural 69.72 78.40 60.50
Urban 89.21 93.21 85.03
MEGHALAYA Total 62.56 65.43 59.61
Rural 56.29 59.24 53.24
Urban 86.30 89.05 83.50
ASSAM Total 63.25 71.28 54.61
Rural 59.73 68.22 50.70
Urban 85.34 89.74 80.24
WEST BENGAL Total 68.64 77.02 59.61
Rural 63.42 73.13 53.16
Urban 81.25 86.13 75.74
JHARKHAND Total 53.56 67.30 38.87
Rural 45.74 60.94 29.89
Urban 79.14 87.03 69.96
ORISSA Total 63.08 75.35 50.51
Rural 59.84 72.93 46.66
Urban 80.84 87.93 72.87
CHHATTISGARH Total 64.66 77.38 51.85
 Rural 60.48 74.09 46.99
Urban 80.58 89.39 71.11
MADHYA PRADESH Total 63.74 76.06 50.29
Rural 57.80 71.70 42.76
Urban 79.39 87.39 70.47
GUJARAT Total 69.14 79.66 57.80
Rural 61.29 74.11 47.84
Urban 81.84 88.34 74.50
DAMAN & DIU Total 78.18 86.76 65.61
Rural 75.83 84.83 59.33
Urban 82.31 91.12 73.41
DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI Total 57.63 71.18 40.23
Rural 49.34 64.50 30.83
Urban 84.36 90.84 74.54
MAHARASHTRA Total 76.88 85.97 67.03
Rural 70.36 81.93 58.40
Urban 85.48 91.03 79.09
ANDHRA PRADESH Total 60.47 70.32 50.43
Rural 54.50 65.35 43.50
Urban 76.09 83.19 68.74
KARNATAKA Total 66.64 76.10 56.87
Rural 59.33 70.45 48.01
Urban 80.58 86.66 74.12
GOA Total 82.01 88.42 75.37
Rural 79.67 87.37 71.92
Urban 84.39 89.46 78.98
LAKSHADWEEP Total 86.66 92.53 80.47
Rural 85.04 91.49 78.27
Urban 88.62 93.77 83.13
KERALA Total 90.86 94.24 87.72
Rural 90.04 93.63 86.69
Urban 93.19 95.94 90.62
TAMIL NADU Total 73.45 82.42 64.43
Rural 66.21 77.15 55.28
Urban 82.53 88.97 75.99
PONDICHERRY Total 81.24 88.62 73.90
Rural 73.98 83.50 64.38
Urban 84.84 91.18 78.57
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR Total 81.30 86.33 75.24
 ISLANDS
Rural 78.70 84.14 72.26
Urban 86.57 90.65 81.47
me of the important highlights of Census 2001 are given below:

 Rajasthan has recorded the highest increase i.e.21.86% in the literacy rate
among the States/UTs of India.

 The literacy rate in the country has increased to 64.84%, which reflects an
overall increase of 12.63%, the fastest decadal growth ever. This is the
highest rate since independence.

 The male literacy rate has increased to 75.26%, which shows an increase of
11.13%.On the other hand, the female literacy of 53.67% has increased at a
much faster rate of 14.38%.

 The male-female literacy gap has reduced from 24.84% in 1991 to 21.59% in
2001.Mizoram has the smallest gap (3.97%) followed by Kerala (6.52%) and
Meghalaya (5.82%).

 All States and Union Territories without exception have shown increase in
literacy rates during 1991-2001.

 In all the States and Union Territories the male literacy rate except Bihar
(59.68%) is now over 60%.

 For the first time since independence there has been a decline in the absolute
number of illiterates during the decade. In the previous decades, there has
been a continuous increase in the number of illiterates, despite the increase in
the literacy rates, but now for the first time the total number of illiterates has
come down by 24.77 million.

 The number of literate persons has increased to 560.68 million in 2001 thus
 adding an additional 201.40 million literates in the country.

 Rajasthan has recorded the highest increase i.e.21.86% in the literacy rate
among the States/UTs of India.Literacy rate of Rajasthan in 7+ population in
1991 was 38.55% which has increased to 60.41% in 2001.

 The state also recorded very good increase in the female literacy. It was
20.44% in 1991, which has increased to 43.85% in 2001.

 The female literacy rate of Chhattisgarh in 7+ population in 1991 was 27.52%

which has increased to 51.85% in 2001.Thus the rise in female literacy rate in
Chhattisgarh has been to the extent of 24.33%, which is the highest among
all the States/UTs of the country.

 Madhya Pradesh also recorded a good increase in female literacy rate

i.e.20.94%.In 1991 the literacy rate of females was 29.35%, which has
increased to 50.29% in 2001.

ate Groupings

the basis of literacy rate, State/UTs can be grouped as under:

 High Literacy Rate (80% and above) � Kerala (90.86%), Mizoram

(88.80%), Lakshadweep (86.66%), Goa (82.01%), Chandigarh (81.94%),
Delhi (81.67%), A & N Islands (81.30%) and Pondicherry (81.24%).

 Literacy Rate above national average (64.8%) and below 80% -

Daman & Diu (78.18%), Maharashtra (76.88%), Himachal Pradesh (76.48%),
Tamil Nadu (73.45%), Tripura (73.19%), Uttaranchal (71.62%), Manipur
(70.53%), Punjab (69.65%), Gujarat (69.14%), Sikkim (68.81%), West
Bengal (68.64%), Haryana (67.91%), Karnataka (66.64%) and Nagaland
(66.59%).

 Literacy Rate below national average (64.8%) � Chhattisgarh (64.66%),

Madhya Pradesh (63.74%), Assam (63.25%), Orissa (63.08%), Meghalaya
(62.56%), Andhra Pradesh (60.47%), Rajasthan (60.41%), Dadra & Nagar
 Haveli (57.63%), Uttar Pradesh (56.27%), Jammu & Kashmir (55.52%),
Arunachal Pradesh (54.34%), Jharkhand (53.56%) and Bihar (47.00%).

ural-Urban Gap (Literates) - Census 2001

(In million)

Persons Male Female

All Areas 560.68 336.53 224.15

(64.8%) (75.3%) (53.7%)

Rural Areas 361.87 223.55 138.32

(58.7%) (70.7%) (46.1%)

Urban Areas 199.81 113.98 85.83

(79.9%) (86.3%) (72.9%)

SC 75.31 47.43 27.88

(54.69%) (66.64%) (41.90%)

ST 32.38 20.56 11.82

(47.10%) (59.17%) (34.76%)

teracy

 In terms of the size of illiteracy, eight States, viz. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka and
Maharastra had more than 15 million illiterates each and accounted for
69.7 per cent of the illiterate population of the country.

 The first four of these states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh
and Rajasthan are in Hindi belt and have 42.76% illiterates.

 Number of non-literates in these States - Uttar Pradesh (58.85

million), Bihar (35.08 million), Rajasthan (18.15 million) and Madhya
Pradesh (17.97 million).
  In Bihar the number of illiterates increased from 31.98 million in 1991
to 35.08 million in 2001.

 Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have 10.21 million and 6.10 million

illiterates in 2001.

 It means that 48.12% of the non-literates reside in these six Hindi-

speaking States.

 Other States having more than 10 million illiterates are: Orissa (11.61
million), Gujarat (13.31 million) and Tamil Nadu (14.65 million).

RLD

(in million)

Total Male Female

ult Literacy Rate**(15+) (%)
82 87 77
ult Illiterates**(15+) in million
780.66 281.04 499.62
uth literacy rate (15-24) (%)
87 90 84
ung illiterates (in million)
138.97 52.81 86.16
t of School population (in million)
76.84 33.25 43.59

urce:Education for All � Global Monitoring Report � 2007

ERACY STATUS IN SOME ASIAN COUNTRIES

uth Asian Countries

Total Non- Literacy Rate 15+ (%)(2000)

Literate
Country Population Total Male Female
15+age
(in million)
Maldives -- 96 96 96

Sri Lanka -- 91 92 89

India* 268.42 61 73 48

Bhutan -- -- -- --

Pakistan 48.81 50 63 36

Nepal 7.66 49 63 35

Bangladesh 52.53 43 52 33

er Asian Countries

Total Non-literate Literacy Rate 15+ (%)

Population 15+ (2000)
Country
age
(in millions) Total Male Female

Thailand 93 95 91
3.35

Philippines 93 93 93
3.50

Vietnam 90 94 87
4.90
 Malaysia 89 92 85
1.72

Indonesia 90 94 87
15.10

China 91 95 87
87.01

Myanmar 90 94 86
3.20

Iran 77 84 70
10.50

Laos 69 77 61
1.01

Afghanistan 28 43 13
9.04

Source: Education for All � Global Monitoring Report � 2007

LITERACY STATUS IN NINE MOST POPULOUS COUNTRIES

Total Non-literate Literacy Rate 15+ (%)

Country
Population 15+ age Total Male Female
Mexico 6.52 91 92 90
ndonesia 15.10 90 94 87
Brazil 17.36 89 88 89
China 87.01 91 95 87
Nigeria -- -- -- --
ndia* 268.42 61 73 48
Egypt 14.21 71 83 59
Pakistan 48.81 50 63 36
Bangladesh 52.53 43 52 33

Source:Education for All � Global Monitoring Report � 2007

LITERACY STATUS IN AFRICA AND SUB-SAHARAN COUNTRIES
 Total Non-literate Literacy Rate 15+ (%)
Country
Population 15+ age Total Male Female
Mexico 6.52 91 92 90
ndonesia 15.10 90 94 87
Brazil 17.36 89 88 89
China 87.01 91 95 87
Nigeria -- -- -- --
ndia* 268.42 61 73 48
Egypt 14.21 71 83 59
Pakistan 48.81 50 63 36
Bangladesh 52.53 43 52 33
Source:Education for All � Global Monitoring Report � 2007

Literacy Scenario as per 2001 Census

Literacy in India has made remarkable strides since Independence. This

has been further confirmed by the results of the Census 2001. The
literacy rate has increased from 18.33% in 1951 to 64.84% in 2001.
This is despite the fact that during the major part of the last five decades
there has been exponential growth of the population at nearly 2% per
annum. The state-wise literacy rates are given below:

dication of illiteracy from a nation that is set to become the most populated in the
d is by no means easy. This was realised in the eighties and the National Literacy
ion came into being to impart a new sense of urgency and seriousness to adult
cation.
we set foot in to the new millennium, it gives us the opportunity to reflect upon the
rts we have been making and also to learn from our failures so that we can achieve
target of a sustainable, threshold level of literacy. It is time to assess ongoing
grammes and seek new horizons. It is in this context that the Union Cabinet took
e momentous decisions in its meeting held on 30th November1999.These decisions,
h will have far reaching consequences, have greatly strengthened the mission and
n to it a new orientation as well as a resurgent spirit.

egrated Approach

Government has decided that an integrated approach to literacy would be followed

. This means, the Total literacy Campaigns and the Post Literacy Programme will
operate under one literacy Project. This approach would enable the enormous
racy problem to be tackled in a holistic manner. By treating the imparting of
tional literacy as a continuum rather than as a one off benefit for the illiterate
on, progress of literacy efforts would be made goal -directed. Literacy campaigns
ld continue to run in those areas where there are large pools of residual illiteracy. At
same time, for those who have crossed the basic learning phase, programmes of
solidation, remediation, vocational skills, integration with life skills and such other
ects would be considered the basic unit.

ffect, the task of making a person actually literate in a sustainable and meaningful
can be said to have been modesty discharged only after the Post Literacy
mpaigns actually constitute two operational stages on the learning continuum and
under the same scheme will operate in smooth progression, drawing there financial
enance from one single and same budgetary provision.

proposed that a district, while submitting their initial project, would also submit
r strategy for Post Literacy on the basis of there anticipated target and projections of
evements. The per learner financial norms of Total Literacy Campaigns and Post
acy Campaigns would be the same as approved by the Expenditure Finance
mmittee. The structures and strategies would also remain unaltered providing closer
ages.

integrated proposal seeks to effectively bring the activities of literacy campaigns

er one 'Literacy Project' to achieve continuity, efficiency and convergence and to
mise unnecessary time lag between the two.
 existing funding pattern of literacy campaigns is proposed to be continued. The
ing ratio between Centre and State Government for normal districts is 2:1,whereas
districts under Tribal Sub-Plan the ratio is 4:1.The per learner cost for a Total
acy Campaigns will now be in the range of Rs 90-180, whereas it will be between
0-130 for post literacy programme.

many cases for reasons such as natural calamities, absence of political will, frequent
sfer of collectors, etc., a number of campaigns have stagnated .The restoration of
h project would be continued as was approved by the cabinet in 1994. For this
pose, an additionality of 40-50% on the original project cost, will be admissible.

revised parameters of the scheme, in brief, are as follows:

ITEMS EARLIER PARAMETERS PRESENT PARAMETERS
Special project for
Literacy Campaigns&
Name Eradication
Operation Restoration
of illiteracy
TLC-Rs.65/- upwards TLC-Rs.90-180
Per learner cost
PLP-Rs.45/- upwards PLP-Rs.90-130
Duration of PLP Two years One years
Subsumed with Literacy
Rural Functional
separate scheme Campaigns
Literacy Project
& Operation Restoration
TLC/PLP to be
TLC/PLP projects sanctioned
Sanction sanctioned simultaneously.
separately.
procedure Basic Literacy activities
PLP follow TLC.
for TLC/PLP to continue during
Activities of basic Literacy
projects Continuing Education
Continue upto PL stage.
phase also.

Continuing Education

The structure of the continuing education programme, launched in 1995

as a fully funded centrally-sponsored scheme, will be retained and
further strengthened and expanded in scope and content. A continuing
education centre will be set up for a population of 2,000-2,500 so that it
caters to the need of atleast 500-1000 neo-literates. A nodal continuing
education will be set up for a cluster of 10-15 continuing education
centers.

The function of imparting basic literacy and transaction of literacy

primers would be continued in the continuing education phase. The
activity of teaching-learning for basic literacy would be available not only
dropouts and left-outs but also to new illiterate entrants in the age group
15-35.

The scheme will continue to be implemented by the Zilla Saksharta

Samiti headed by the Collector. However, the Zilla Saksharta Samiti may
also be headed by a democratically elected chairman of the Zilla Parishad
in states where a full-fledged Panchayati Raj system has been
established. The implementing agencies-voluntary agencies, Mahila
Mandals, Panchayati Raj institutions, Nehru Yuvak Kendras, etc., for
continuing education centres or nodal continuing education centres will
be identified by the ZSS.

The scheme also envisages convergence with the programmes of Nehru

Yuvak Kendras, National Service Scheme, National Service Volunteer
scheme, etc., at the grassroots level. The infrastructure of these
institutions will, as far as possible, be utilized to facilitate the functioning
of the scheme.

Revised parameters of the Continuing Education Scheme.

EARLIER
ITEMS PRESENT PARAMETERS
PARAMETERS
Rs.25,000/- each for recurring and
non-recurring.
Financial Rs.10,000/- each for
In addition,Rs.12,000/-per annum
pattern recurring and non-
per hired building for housing CECs
CECs recurring
where no
public building is available
Rs.45,000/- each for recurring and
non-recurring.
Rs.20,000/-each for
In addition, Rs 24,000/-per annum
Nodal CECs recurring and non-
per hired
recurring
building for housing NCECs where
no public building is available.
One prerak and one assistant
One prerak each for prerak each
CEC/ CCEC/NCECs(Rs.700 pm for prerak
Honorarium for
NCECs(Rs.300pm for and Rs.500 p.m. for assistant
prerak
CECs and Rs.700pm prerak for CECs) and (Rs 1200
for NCECS) p.m. for prerak andRs.700pm for
assistant prerak for NCECs)
Concept of Involvement of Zilla Saksharta
composite Not existing Samitis and NGOs in running
project centres
Provision of One computers in each district
Not existing
computer allowed
Recurring grant of Rs.12.50
Recurring grant lakh,Rs.10 lakh and Rs 7.50 lakh
Not existing
to SLMAs per annum for A, B & c grade
SLMAS, respectively
Provision for
resource
Not existing Rs.1.10 crore per annum to NOS
support by
National Open
sharing of
experiences
Not existing Rs.25 lakh per year
with other
countries
Decentralisation of Administrative and Financial Powers

State Literacy Mission Authorities

The present approach is towards decentralization of financial and

administrative powers to the State Literacy Mission Authorities (SLMAs).
The SLMAs - state level registered societies will have a 2 layer structure
viz. Governing Council and Executive Council. The State Directorate of
Adult Education will serve as Secretariat. The guidelines regarding the
delegation of powers to the State Literacy Missions have already been
issued, and some projects for continuing education have already been
sanctioned by them. 22 States/UTs have set up SLMAs so far.

Innovative projects in respect of all-India level NGOs will be considered by

the grants-in-aid committee at the national level.They will be provided
assistance for taking up continuing education programmes in addition to
innovative programmes in all part of the country.
 Existing State Resources Centers will be strengthened and their annual
maintenance grants suitably enhanced.Independent district resource units
will now be subsumed in the State Resource Centres.

Revised Parameters of the NGO's and State Resource Centres

ITEMS EARLIER PARAMETERS PRESENT PARAMETERS
Scheme of Assistance NGOs in the field of
Name
to VAs education
Three categories (A, B
Classification Two categories (A&B)
& C)
Category A-Rs.30 lakh
per annum
Category A-Rs.60 lakh per
Financial pattern annum
Category B-Rs.25 lakh
Annual
per annum
maintenance Category B-Rs.40 lakh per
annum
Category C-Rs.10 lakh
per annum
Category A-Rs.50 lakh
One-time grant Not existing
Category B-Rs.40 lakh
1999-2000 3
Opening of State
As and when required 2000-2001 3
Resource Centers
2001-2002 4
Proposal considered by Proposals of regional/local
Sanctioning of VA
central grant-in-aid NGOs to be considered by
Projects
committee respective SLMAs.

Partnership with NGOs

The National Literacy Mission fully recognises the vast potential of NGOs
in furthering its programmes and schemes. Therefore, ever since its
inception, the National Literacy Mission has taken measures to
strengthen its partnership with NGOs. The sheer grind and persistence
that literacy campaigns involve have greatly diminished much of the
enthusiasm that a few NGOs initially exhibited. The National Literacy
Mission has made all efforts to evolve both institutional and informal
mechanisms to give voluntary organisations an active promotional role in
the literacy movement. Under the scheme of support to NGOs, voluntary
agencies are encouraged and financial assistance is provided for
activities such as:

 Running post-literacy and continuing education programmes with

the objective of total eradication of illiteracy in well-defined areas;
 Undertaking resource development activities through
establishment of State.
 organising vocational and technical education programmes for neo-
literates;
 Promoting innovation, experimentation and action research;
 Conducting evaluation and impart studies;
 Organising symposia and conferences, publication of relevant
books and periodicals and production of mass-media support aids.

With more and more districts having completed the post-literacy

programmes, the NGOs now have to diversify the scope of their
activities. They are expected to take up area-specific continuing
education programmes for life-long learning. This will include skill
development programmes for personal, social and occupational
development.

Partnership with Universities

The adult education departments in institutions of higher learning have a
very useful and practical role to play. They have genuine contributions to
make both in the sphere of policy making and in practical
implementation. A special scheme, therefore, for the involvement of
higher educational institutions has been conceived with the specific
purpose of making their role more focused. If universities and such other
institutions come forward even in a moderate way, the literacy
movement would benefit enormously. Some of the areas in which they
can actively contribute are:

 Provide special resource support to literacy activities in all phases

 Provide resource support for continuing education schemes by
preparing short-term courses for neo-literates
 Undertake evaluation, research and documentation of TLC/PLC and
CE programmes
 Involve university staff on a full-time basis in literacy programmes
 Participate in environment building
 Run continuing education centres
 The scheme of Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) is a unique scheme
crafted by the Government of India.JSSs are institutes of People�s
Education focusing on the poor, the illiterates, the neo-literates, the under-
privileged and the un-reached.The Jan Shikshan Sansthans are unique in
that they do not provide just skill development, but link literacy with
vocational skills and provide large doses of Life Enrichment Education (LEE)
to the people.They do not work in isolation but aim for convergence with
other stakeholders in society.It is their endeavour to shape their
beneficiaries into self reliant and self-assured employees and entrepreneurs.

The Jan Shikshan Sansthans are unique also because they offer quality
vocational skills and technical knowledge at a very low cost.Their doors are
open to everyone and they reach out to their clientele groups by setting up
sub centres in the heart of the slum or in remote rural areas.They are
different from other vocational training institutions as they offer quality
vocational skills and technical knowledge at such a low cost; provide need
based and literacy-linked vocational training in most courses without
insisting on age limit or prior educational qualifications; reach out to the
clientele in their areas unlike other institutions which the clientele has to
access whether near or far; offer a multi-faceted skill-knowledge-awareness
enhancement and outlook formation trainings and inputs and empowerment-
oriented interventions in respect of social, economic and health status
improvement of women and adolescent girls.

The scheme of Jan Shikshan Santhan (JSS) was initially launched in

1967 as Shramik Vidyapeeth, a polyvalent or multi-faceted adult education
institution, aimed at improving the vocational skills and quality of life of the
industrial workers and their family members as well as those persons who
had
been migrating from rural to urban settings.

The scheme of Shramik Vidyapeeth was renamed as Jan Shikshan

Sansthan in April 2000.Along with the change in its name came the change
in its focus. A scheme that was meant for the industrial workers and their
families was expanded both in terms of its clientele and focus and was
extended to the rural areas.There was logic for its expansion.Total Literacy
Campaigns, launched after the setting up of the National Literacy Mission in
1988, had transformed the literacy landscape of the country and created an
army of neo-literates who having realized the power of the written word,
now wanted to use it to improve their livelihoods through skill
development.The post-literacy programme had given a few of them the taste
of vocational skills but the continuing education programme promised to
extend it to many more beneficiaries.That became the rationale of setting up
more Jan Shikshan Sansthans, to match the needs of the districts. Today,
there 221 Jan Shikshan Sansthans in the country and they are expected to
act as district level resource support agencies especially in regard to
organization of vocational training and skill development programmes for the
neo-literates and other target groups of the continuing education
programme.The current aim is that the JSSs should progressively move
towards having 50% of their beneficiaries from amongst the neo-literates.

Funding

The Government of India provides annual lump sum grant to these institutes
in a set pattern. The funds provided by the government are to be spent
under different heads, the ceiling for which have also been prescribed in the
guidelines prepared by the Government. There is no interference of the
Government in the affairs of the Sansthans except monitoring their
performance and also ascertaining before releasing further grants whether
the funds are being utilized as per the guidelines issued by it. The
Government of India representative in the Board of Management of the
Institute facilitates in taking appropriate decisions and guides the institution
in organizing various programmes and activities.

Funding Pattern

The funding pattern for different categories of Jan Shikshan Sansthan is as

under:

Category `A� Rs. 35 lakh

Category `B� Rs. 30 lakh

Category `C� Rs. 25 lakh

Non recurring
Category `A� Rs. 15 lakh

Category `B� Rs. 10 lakh

Categorization

Now the Jan Shikshan Sansthans are classified into three categories
depending upon their location and performance.

Category A

Bangalore,Chennai,Delhi,Hyderabad,Kolkata & Mumbai(Worli)

Category B

Ajmer, Aurangabad(M.S), Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Faridabad,

Guntur, Indore, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Kota,
Lucknow, Madurai, Mysore, Nagpur, Narendrapur, Pune, Ranga Reddy,
Rourkela ,Surat,Tiruchirapalli Thiruvananthapuram,Vadodara,Vijayawada &
Vishakhapatnam.

Category C

Remaining JSSs are under Category C.

The state-wise list of JSSs established so far is given below:

S. No. STATE/UT Number of JSSs

1 ANDHRA PRADESH 12
2 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 1
3 ASSAM 3
4 BIHAR 9
5 CHHATTISGARH 3
6 DELHI 3
7 GOA 1
8 GUJARAT 8
9 HARYANA 6
 10 JAMMU & KASHMIR 2
11 JHARKHAND 5
12 KARNATAKA 10
13 KERALA 11
14 MADHYA PRADESH 27
15 MAHARASHTRA 18
16 MANIPUR 3
17 MIZORAM 1
18 NAGALAND 1
19 ORISSA 15
20 PUNJAB 2
21 RAJASTHAN 6
22 TAMILNADU 10
23 TRIPURA 1
24 UTTARAKHAND 6
25 UTTAR PRADESH 47
26 WEST BENGAL 9
27 CHANDIGARH 1
TOTAL 221

The objectives of JSS were redefined in the context of the literacy

movement which was graduating rapidly into Post-Literacy (PL) and
Continuing Education (CE) phases, with vocational and life skill up-gradation
as a part of their agenda. The enhanced role of the JSS included the
following: (i) impact vocational skills, life skills and technical knowledge to
neo-literates and their trainees and raise their efficiency and increase their
productive ability; (ii) provide academic and technical resource support to
Zila Saksharta Samiti (ZSS), including training its Resource Persons, Master
Trainers and Preraks, to take up vocational and skill development
programmes primarily for neoliterates; (iii) serve as Nodal Continuing
Education Centre (NCEC) and also to manage, coordinate, supervise and
monitor 10-20 CECs, as envisaged in the Scheme of Continuing Education
Programme; (iv) organize equivalency programmes for its beneficiaries
through National and State Open Schools; (v) through Life Enrichment
Education (LEE), wide the knowledge and understanding of the social,
economic and political systems among its beneficiaries in order to create a
critical awareness about the environment; (vi) promote national goals such
as secularism, national integration, women�s equality, protection and
conservation of the environment.
The Jan Shikshan Sansthans offer a large number (371) of vocational
training programmes from candle making to computer courses. In the year
2006-07, 17.53 lakh beneficiaries have been covered under various
vocational training programmes and other activities.

The performance of Jan Shikshan Sansthans is evaluated every three years

by reputed evaluating agencies empanelled with National Literacy Mission.So
far,116 Jan Shikshan Sansthans have been evaluated.

State Resource Centre

The State Resource Centres (SRCs) have carved out a niche for themselves
among the professional adult education organisations in India. There were
14 SRCs in 1980 and their number increased to 25. Managed by NGOs or
universities, all SRCs are expected to provide academic and technical
resource support. This is mainly done by organising training programmes,
material preparation, publishing of relevant material, extension activities,
innovative projects, research studies and evaluation.

In order to revitalise, re-energise and expand the role of SRCs, plans are
being drafted to not only increase their number but also to equip them with
the necessary infrastructure and resource facilities that will enable them to
play the role of catalytic agents. They would be actively involved with actual
field processes in implementation and would have a key role to play in
training, material production and other resource support activities.

Another point that needs to be stressed in so far as SRCS are concerned is

the retention of their voluntary character and autonomous functioning.
Efforts have been recently made to ensure that SRCs are assigned only to
voluntary agencies or institutions of higher learning. State-run SRCs will be
discouraged as a matter of policy.

The SRCs at the moment are divided into three categories of A, B & C which
receive an annual grant of Rs 36, 25 and 10 lakh, respectively. During the
Ninth Five Year Plan, the State Resource Centres are proposed to be divided
into two categories of A & B - which will receive an annual grant of Rs 60
lakh and Rs 40 lakh, respectively. The grading is done on the basis of the
volume of work. Upgradation is based on performance or increased
workload. Also, new resource centres are initially graded in the lower
category. As the SRCs are 100 per cent centrally funded, it is imperative
that they follow certain financial norms and ensure financial discipline.
In order to simplify the procedures and reach out to the masses, financial
and administrative powers have been decentralised to the State Literacy
Mission authorities. Each state has been asked to set up a literacy mission as
registered bodies under the Societies Registration Act. These missions will be
empowered to sanction literacy, post literacy and continuing education
projects.

Monitoring and evaluation of any scheme, specially in the social sector,

has great significance as it helps one to know whether the scheme is on
the right track. The National Literacy Mission has of late being laying
stress on vigorous monitoring and systematic evaluation of adult
education campaigns launched under its aegis in the country. It has
developed and circulated guidelines for concurrent and final evaluation of
total literacy campaigns and post literacy programmes. And, is in the
process of bringing out a comprehensive set of guidelines on continuing
education. There is greater emphasis on the impact that the programme
has had in its catchment area. What effect, for example, has it had on
improving the value attached to education, or to empowering women
and men, or to building awareness of social issues such as dowry, small
families, harmonious caste relations, or to highlighting the need for
conserving the environment?

Starting with a few districts in 1991-92, the Total Literacy Campaigns

now cover more than 597 districts of the country. Many more districts,
having completed the basic literacy phase, are going through diverse
post literacy and continuing education programmes. Therefore, the need
to have an efficient management and monitoring system is growing day
by day.

Earlier, the Directorate of Adult Education made strenuous efforts to

collect the information and data directly from the districts. The extension
of the literacy campaigns to the entire nation has made it imperative to
design a new reliable system that ensures the steady flow of information
needed by the National Literacy Mission.

The previous monitoring system laid excessive emphasis on targets. This

often tended to give only quantitative information and there was
practically no way of knowing whether the information had been cross-
checked and verified. The management information system was made
more reliable by decentralising it. The state directorates of adult/mass
education now hold the responsibility of monitoring literacy campaigns in
their respective states.

The Director of Adult Education in each state/UT is required to hold a

monthly meeting on a fixed date. The objectives of these meetings are to
review the progress of literacy campaigns, post literacy programmes and
continuing education programmes in various districts. These meetings
are attended by secretaries of the Zilla Saksharta Samitis, Directors of
State Resource Centres, state/area coordinators of the Bharat Gyan-
Vigyan Samiti or representatives of the nodal voluntary agency and of
Jan Shikshan Sansthans. A representative from the National Literacy
Mission or the Directorate of Adult Education is also present. Apart from
obtaining correct, factual and up-to-date statistical information, the focus
of discussion is also on assessment of qualitative aspects such as
problems encountered in accelerating the pace of literacy campaign,
efficacy of corrective measures initiated in the past, activities planned for
the coming month, and so on.

The State Directorates scrutinise, analyse and compile the data from all
the districts carefully and send consolidated state reports to the Central
Directorate of Adult Education in the prescribed format. National-level
status reports on literacy and post literacy are also compiled and
published periodically.

The visit reports of the members of the executive committee of the

National Literacy Mission, journalists, literacy consultants, departmental
officers also form an important part of the monitoring system.

Another important step taken towards revitalising the state-level

monitoring system was the computerisation of state directorates. Under
the new decentralised monitoring system, the state directorates have
been assigned a vital role in monitoring district campaigns. The task
essentially required proper computer facilities. Realising this, the
National Literacy Mission made a special provision and provided
additional budget to the state directorates to purchase computer
systems. Now, most of the states have installed computers and the
system is being efficiently used. All the state reports are centrally
processed by the computer and analysed to ascertain the strengths and
weaknesses of the programme to facilitate further implementation and
policy formulation.

The post literacy programme is a transition from a structured literacy

programme to an unstructured self-learning phase. The projects are
highly contextual to the district, and can consist of several target groups,
with some continuing non-formal education, some with adult night
schools and some with simply self-learning. Reporting on post literacy
campaign is thus on the lines of the project activities. A basic statistical
report should therefore be accompanied by a qualitative account of
coverage.

Monthly monitoring meetings are held at state and district levels. Given
the diverse nature of the various elements of a post literacy campaign,
closer monitoring is done through project functionaries, people's
committees and Panchayats at the village and block levels.

Monitoring of continuing education programmes in a scientific way is

very important for quality and functional control. The overall
responsibility of monitoring the programme lies with the ZSS.
Appropriate bodies are created at the sub-district level in the form of
Block Monitoring Committees and, if feasible, Panchayat Monitoring
Committees.

The prerak of the CEC must submit his/her monthly progress report to
the prerak of the Nodal CEC. The Nodal CECs submit their collated
monthly reports cluster to the Block Coordinator, who in turn must send
them to the district-level committee i.e. the ZSS. The ZSS report will be
reviewed by the State Literacy Mission and National Literacy Mission
every month on the basis of a pre-determined MIS format.

The in-charge of the Nodal CEC is expected to visit the CECs in his/her
cluster and hold meetings with all the volunteers at least once a month.
The Block Coordinator must visit each Nodal CEC and hold meetings with
the prerak at least once a month. The ZSS functionaries through their
core team at the district level must hold periodic meetings with the Block
Coordinators and also conduct regular field visits.

To ensure the participation of the community, the establishment of

Village Education Committees (VECs), Committees of Neo-literates, User
Committees, etc., are encouraged for day-to-day functioning of the
programme.
The Mission has adopted stringent measures for the objective evaluation
of literacy campaigns and post literacy programmes. A six-member
expert group was set up in 1993 under the chairmanship of Prof. Arun
Ghosh, a former Planning Commission member. As per the
recommendations of the group, the evaluation system has been
considerably tightened. The review and impact studies on evaluation
practices of literacy campaigns also suggested that the practice of
declaring districts as fully literate was not proper. A need was there to
streamline the evaluation procedures and techniques. Hence, the concept
of total literacy was redefined and an achievement of 55-60 per cent
literacy in a low district was considered satisfactory.

The National Literacy Mission now recommends a three-step evaluation:

Self-evaluation of learning outcomes is a built-in feature of the three

literacy primers. Each primer contains a set of three tests. It is only
when the learners qualify in these tests, they reach the levels of literacy
and numeracy laid down in National Literacy Mission norms. This self-
evaluation would enable a learner to perceive his own pace and progress
of learning and should heighten his motivation.

Concurrent or process evaluation is a kind of mid-term appraisal of an

ongoing project to assess its strengths and weaknesses and to suggest
corrective measures accordingly. It is conducted in two stages during the
course of the campaign. The first stage is undertaken when at least 50
per cent of the enrolled learners have completed the first primer. The
second stage is completed within three months after the first stage. The
concurrent evaluation is carried by competent evaluation agencies from
outside the concerned districts. The state directorate nominates three
evaluation agencies of which the district chooses one to conduct the
concurrent evaluation.

Final or summative evaluation of a literacy campaign is undertaken when

at least 60 per cent of the enrolled learners have completed or are
nearing completion of the third primer. This evaluation is carried out by
reputed evaluating agencies from outside the state and empanelled with
the National Literacy Mission. On receiving a request from the concerned
Zilla Saksharta Samiti through the state directorate, the Mission
suggests a panel of three to five agencies from which the district chooses
one to carry out the final evaluation. The main focus of the evaluation is
the learners and the evaluation is done in the random sample method. A
minimum sample of 5 per cent or 10,000 (whichever is less) is to be
selected randomly. Care is taken to avoid sample loss, absenteeism and
proxy attendance. The criteria for considering a learner literate is
achievement of at least 50 per cent marks in each of the abilities
(reading, writing and numeracy) and 70 per cent as the aggregate. So
far, final evaluation has been undertaken in 281 districts.

Similar final evaluation exercise is carried out for the districts going
through the post literacy phase. For projects of one year duration, the
final evaluation is carried out at the end of the programme and is more
or less an impact evaluation. The revised guidelines for this have been
evolved through a series of regional and national workshops.

The selection of agencies for conducting the evaluation of post literacy

programmes is the same as that for total literacy campaigns. The
agencies are expected to keep in mind the objectives of the post literacy
programme while carrying out its evaluation and assessing its impact.
These agencies are oriented from time to time with the latest
developments in the field of literacy and objectives of the National
Literacy Mission. The state directorates also conduct such orientation
workshops for the evaluating agencies. Post literacy evaluation
concentrates not merely on evaluating learning skills but also other
themes like convergence with development programmes, skill
upgradation, etc.

The evaluation guidelines have been standardised and are issued by the
National Literacy Mission from time to time. Special impact studies of the
campaigns on the social, cultural and economic environment of the areas
are also being undertaken by the State Resource Centres and such other
organisations under the aegis of the Mission. It is hoped that the new
approach of evaluating of literacy campaigns and post literacy
programmes will ensure complete transparency and enhance the
credibility of the results and impact assessments.

Female Literacy in India

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.

Factors Responsible for Poor Female Literacy Rate

Historically,a variety of factors have been found to be responsible for poor female literate
rate,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.

Strategies adopted by the Government for increasing Female Literacy in

the Country

The main strategies adopted by the Government for increasing female literacy in the
country include:

1. National Literacy Mission for imparting functional literacy

2. Universalisation for Elementary Education
3. Non-Formal Education

CONTRIBUTION OF LITERACY CAMPAIGNS TO FEMALE LITERACY

The provision of educational opportunities for women has been an important part of the
national endeavor in the field of education since India's Independence. Though these
endeavors did yield significant results, gender disparity persists with uncompromising
tenacity, more so in the rural areas and among the disadvantaged communities. This is
not only a matter of national anxiety and concern but also a matter of national
conscience. It is with this concern that the Government of India launched the National
Literacy Mission in 1988 for eradication of adult illiteracy. Since women account for an
overwhelming percentage of the total number of illiterates, the National Literacy Mission
is for all practical purposes a Mission of imparting functional literacy to women. Total
literacy campaigns launched since 1988 under the aegis of the National emphasis on
making efforts to: -

 Create an environment where women demand knowledge and information,

 empowering themselves to change their lives.
 Inculcate in women the confidence that change is possible, if women work
collectively.
 Spread the message that education of women is a pre-condition for fighting
against their oppression.
 Highlight the plight of the girl child and stress the need for Universalisation of
elementary education as a way of addressing the issue.

Some of the significant ways in which the literacy campaigns have contributed to the
promotion of female literacy and women�s empowerment are as follows:-
HEIGHTENED SOCIAL AWARENESS

Literacy campaigns have heightened social awareness among women regarding the
importance of education, both for themselves as well as for their children. Large
numbers of women have been participating whole-heartedly in the literacy campaigns as
learners and volunteers. Because of the campaign mode and creation of a positive
environment for literacy, women receive a social sanction to participate in the literacy
programs. As women came out of their homes and take part in the campaigns with great
enthusiasm, they acquire a heightened sense of self-awareness and desire to gain
knowledge of host of women�s issues.
INCREASED SCHOOL ENROLMENT

The literacy campaigns have also motivated and encouraged women learners to educate
their children, particularly girls by enrolling them in formal schools. An evaluation study
of the literacy campaign ion Birbhum District shows that the biggest achievement of the
adult literacy program in Birbhum has been its impact on girls� education. The
confidence of the girls, as they perform drill or play football, is the result of the
awareness among neo-literate parents that girls need to be educated and outgoing. The
need to provide equal opportunity to both girls and boys has also had effect of generating
greater demand for the quantity to both girls and boys has also had effect of generating
greater demand for the quantity and quality of primary schooling.

INCREASE IN SELF-CONFIDENCE AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

The literacy classes conducted under literacy campaigns have given women as
opportunity to break the isolation which is socially structured into their lives, giving
them a chance to meet other women and learn collectively- rather than learn singly as
individuals. The newly acquired literacy skills have enhanced their ability to solve family
problems and learn new skills. Women are communicating how they have started feeling
more confident, how their articulation has improved, how they have become more
discerning and how they have learnt to function autonomously.

GENDER EQUITY AND WOMEN�S EMPOWERMENT

Total literacy campaigns have provided illiterate adult women, who have been denied
access to formal schooling, with a great opportunity for reading, writing, increasing
awareness levels and skills training. Literacy campaigns have thus actively promoted
gender equity and have sought to empower them as to decision making about themselves,
their families and their communities. The impact of literacy on women�s life has often
been dramatic. Experiences of Poddukuttai in Tamil Nadu (where women learnt how to
bicycle and acquired ownership right in stone quarries) and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh
(where a lesson in the literacy Primer inspired women to launch anti-arrack agitation that
later engulfed the entire district and the state) have shown how women have been
empowered at individual and collective levels as a result of their participation.

STATUS IN THE FAMILY

Literacy campaigns have played a significant role in improving the status of women
within their won families. Whereas traditionally, women have little say in the family
decision making, they, through participation in literacy programs, have begun to express
their newly found self-belief in having say both within and without the family.

EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY

Another area in which women�s equality has shown a major improvement as a result of
adult literacy programs is the area of enrolment of boys and girls in schools. As a result
of higher participation of women in literacy campaigns, the gender gap in literacy levels
is gradually getting reduced. Even more significant is the fact that disparity in enrolment
of boys and girls in neo-literate households is much lowered compared to the non-literate
householders.

WOMEN AS ENTREPRENEURS

Participation of women is literacy campaigns has opened several opportunities for neo-
literate women to step out of the households and involve themselves in some enterprise
or a new vocation. The Dumka campaign in Bihar has demonstrated how literacy
campaign has helped women has demonstrated how literacy campaign has helped women
to take charge of their lives. They have formed a group called �Joga Behna� (Awake
sister), which tries to sensitize the women to the need of collective action against social
ills. These women have also set up �Didi Bank� (Sister Bank) which promotes the
habits of thrifts and savings. Here women have also learnt to maintain hand pump
thereby breaking their dependence for repair on mechanics from outside the village.

HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS AND ACCESS TO CREDIT

In almost all the districts, the literacy campaigns have gone beyond the transaction of
mere literacy skills and have served to enhance knowledge and skills for better
management of expenditure and improving earning capacities. In several districts, the
women participants in literacy campaigns have begun to set aside their earnings not only
in regular banks but also in specially thrift societies. Such societies, as for example in
Dumka are run by the women themselves.

HEALTH AND HYGIENE

Literacy campaigns in most districts have taken up health and hygiene issues as an
integral component of adult education programs. Literacy campaigns have helped to
spread knowledge about health care and nutrition, thereby enabling mothers to keep their
family in better health and to care better for their children. Literacy campaigns have also
disseminated information for creating awareness about problems of early marriage,
spacing and small family norms.

STATE-WISE PERCENTAGE OF FEMALE LITERACY IN THE COUNTRY AS PER

2001 CENSUS
Percentage
of
Sl.No. Name of the State
Female
Literacy
1. Andhra Pradesh 51.17
2. Arunachal Pradesh 44.24
3. Assam 56.03
4. Bihar 33.57
5. Chattisgarh 52.40
6. Delhi 75.00
7. Goa 75.51
8. Gujarat 58.60
9. Haryana 56.31
10. Himachal Pradesh 68.08
11. Jammu & Kashmir 41.82
12. Jharkhand 39.38
13. Karnataka 57.45
14. Kerala 87.86
15. Madhya Pradesh 50.28
16. Maharashtra 67.51
17. Manipur 59.70
18. Meghlaya 60.41
19. Mizoram 86.13
20. Nagaland 61.92
 21. Orissa 50.97
22. Punjab 63.55
23. Rajasthan 44.34
24. Sikkim 61.46
25. Tamil Nadu 64.55
26. Tripura 65.41
27. Uttaranchal 60.26
28. Uttar Pradesh 42.98
29. West Bengal 60.22
Union Territories
Andaman & Nicobar
1. 75.29
Islands
2. Chandigarh 76.65
3. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 42.99
4. Daman & Diu 70.37
5. Lakshadweep 81.56
6. Pondicherry 74.16
All India 54.16

Source: Census of India - 2001 Provisional Figures

Financial Status of Central/State Release

Ninth Five Year Plan Outlay, Year-Wise Budget & Expenditure

Tenth Plan Financial outlay and Expenditure
Financial Details of Eleventh Plan Outlay for Adult Education

FINANCIAL PARAMETERS
Under the Literacy Campaigns, funds are released by the
NLM directly to the district. While the pattern of sharing is
usually in the proportion 2:1 between Centre and State in
the case of Tribal Sub plan districts, the pattern of sharing is
4:1.
Achievements

The literacy movement has to its credit, several achievements it can be

proud of:

 Literacy Campaigns have been launched in 597 districts, out of which

174 districts are in Post Literacy programmes and 328 districts in
continuing education phase.
 Literacy projects sanctioned so far under all the schemes of NLM are
estimated to cover more than 150 million neo-literates.
 125.6 million have already been made literate under all programs of
NLM.
 60% learners are female and 40% are male.
 23% learners belong to Scheduled Caste and 12% belong to
Scheduled Tribes.
 The cumulative number of literary volunteers mobilized since the
launching of literacy campaigns is about 15 million.

The literacy campaigns thus represent the largest ever civil and
military mobilization in the history of the country.

SOCIAL IMPACTS
* Community and Social Mobilization

The single biggest characteristic of the literacy campaigns has been their
ability to galvanize entire communities into believing that learning must
become an integral port of their lives. The modus operandi has been to
create and build on environment conducive to learning by accessing
communities through their cultural roots and traditions. All manner of tools
have been used such as cultural processions, street plays, local theatre,
puppetry, folk songs, etc.

* Increased School Enrolment

The Adult Education programme has contributed in a significant way to

better enrolment of children in schools. Study findings in India show that
enrolment of boys and girls in the age group 5-15 years is significantly
higher in neo-literate households as compared to children in illiterate
households. 2 out of 3 boys in neo-literate households are enrolled in
schools compared to 3 out of 4 in participant households. In the case of girls
this difference is even more enhanced - 58% for non-participants; 72% for
participants.

* Social Awareness of the Importance of Education

India recorded heightened social awareness regarding the importance of

education both for themselves as well as for their children. The biggest
achievement of the adult education movement has been its impact on girls
education. The confidence of the girls as they perform their scholastic and
extra-curricular roles is the result of the awareness among neo-literate
parents that girls need to be educated and outgoing. The need to provide
equal opportunity to both girls and boys has also had the effect of
generating greater demand for the quantity and quality of primary schooling.

* Gender Equity and Women's Empowerment

One of the great strengths of the adult education programme has been the
involvement of women. As much as 60% of participants in India are female.
Programmes have provided illiterate adult women who have been denied
access to formal schooling with great opportunity for reading, writing,
increasing awareness levels and skills training. Literacy and adult education
campaigns have actively promoted gender equity and have sought to
empower them as to decision-making about themselves, their families and
their communities.

* Status in the Family

This major strain running through the programmes has played a significant
role in improving the status of women within their own families. Whereas,
traditionally women in India had little say in family decision-making, they,
through participation, have begun to express their newly found self-belief in
having a say both within and without the family.

* Health and Hygiene

The effect of Adult Education on health and hygiene are indeed most
significant. Raising the functional literacy level of a community leads to a
demonstrable decline in fertility and infant mortality rates. Adult education
has helped spread knowledge about health care and nutrition, thereby
enabling mothers to keep their families in better health and to care better
for their children.
Sensitizing Panchayati Raj representatives to ensure Mass Participation in
literacy programmes.

After the 73rd Constitutional amendment the responsibility of Adult

Education now rests with ZILLA Parishad/ZILLA Panchayats. Panchayat
elections have now taken place in most of the states and steps have been
taken to orient the elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj institutions
to the literacy programmes and to integrate the Panchayati structure more
meaningfully with the Zilla Saksharata Samiti(ZSS). In newly sanctioned
districts, representation of Panchayati Raj Institutions at various levels is
being ensured, and in the ZSSs of Panchayati Raj representatives are being
imparted orientation and sensitization through workshops held by the State
Resource Centres and the National Literacy Resource Centre at Mussorie.

New Initiatives

 Low Literacy states.

 Tribal areas.
 North Eastern states.
 Scheduled castes and schedule tribes.
 Women.
 Other disadvantaged groups.
 Minorities.
 Adolescents.
State Wise Position of TLC, PLP & CE Sanction Status

Directorate of Adult Education originated from National Fundamental

Education Centre (NFEC), which was set up by Govt. of India in the year
1956. This Centre was renamed as Department of Adult Education and made
part of the National Institute of Education under the N.C.E.R.T. in 1961.
Following the Government�s thrust on adult education resulting in
substantial increase in adult education activities/programmes in the country,
this department separated from N.C.E.R.T. and was given an independent
identity in the year 1971.For sometime, it was also known as Directorate of
Non-Formal (Adult) Education and ultimately the Directorate of Adult
Education. Over the years, the Directorate has considerably expanded both
in size and coverage of activities in the field of adult education/literacy. At
present this Directorate enjoys the status of a subordinate office under the
Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Govt. of India.
Directorate of Adult Education

The main functions of Directorate of Adult Education are as follows:

- Provide academic and technical resource support to National Literacy

Mission.

- Prepare guidelines for development of teaching-learning materials.

- Organize training and orientation programmes.

- Monitor the progress and status of literacy campaigns and to provide

regular feedback to National Literacy Mission.

- Produce media materials and harnessing of all kinds of media i.e.

electronic, print, traditional and folk media for furtherance of the
objectives of National Literacy Mission.

- Provide of regular feed back to the NLM about the findings of

concurrent and external evaluations of literacy campaigns conducted
through social science research institutions.

- Coordination, collaboration and networking with all the Zila

Saksharta Samitis, State Literacy Mission Authorities, State Resource
Centres, Jan Shikshan Sansthans and other institutions / agencies for
continuous improvement of content and process of adult education
programmes on behalf of NLM.