CHAPTER - I

1.0 : INTRODUCTION :

In the history of mankind education has formed a basis for

development of human society. Through development of attitudes, values,

capabilities both of knowledge and s k ills , education provides strength

and resistence to people to respond to changing situations and enable

them to cause and contribute to social development. History has

established beyond doubt the crucial role played by human resource in

the development of nation and the development of human resource is the

main function of education. All developing countries are engaged in

different types of developmental works. The ultimate step of the

development of human is becoming an 'Educated' or ‘ Learned man1. An

educated person can integrate his thoughts, behaviour for p ro pe r

performance of his activities. For this reason all developing countries

are engaged to develop their human resources in all r es pe c ts . As

education brings awareness, awareness brings movement, movement

constructs change and performs development; it is certain that education

plays a great role in all developmental works. In all ages various steps

were taken to develop man through education. Ancient Indians considered

education or knowledge as the third eye of man. A person who didnot

possess the light of education was really described as blind. Education

was thought of a veritable desire yielding tree . It was declared that a

man can discharge his debt to ancestors not merely by procreating sons

but by providing for their proper education.

'Education' John Dewey said" is to help the growing of a

helpless young animal in to a happy, moral and efficient human being.

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Education is a continuous process of adjustment, having as its aim at

every stage on added capacity of growth".

Education commission, Govt, of England opined that 'A

Government resting upon popular suffrage cannot successful unless those

who elected and obey their Governors are educated".

Swami Vivekananda said 1 we want that Education by which

character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is

expanded and by which one can stand on one's own feet.. He further

said 'No amount of politics would be of any avail untill the masses in

India are once more well educated, well fed, and well cared for.

Education is one of the essential needs of human being.

According to Sri Aurobindo"Education enables men develop the capacity

o f observation and rightly knowing the fact on which they have to form
judgement, trains them to think fruitfully and soundly and fits them to

use their knowledge and their thought effectively for their own and

common good. "Education is essential for the all round development of

the individual as well as the country. Literacy is the medium to

educate man. It is essential fo r communication and learning, fo r

acquiring and sharing of information, a pre-condition for a person's

physical and mental growth and national development.

1.1. : GONGEPT OF LITERACY :

It is convenient to begin the discussion of what constitutes

literacy with an obvious, but often overlooked distinction between pre

literacy and illitera cy . The term literacy generally is implied as

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antithesis to pre-literacy or il li ter ac y. In the first sense, a society

becomes literate as soon as some group or caste within it begins to make

w ritten records. In the second sense, literacy denotes th e

acquisation of ability to communicate through th e medium o f

the a b s t r a c t sy m bo ls o f a script.

In t h e d i c t i o n a r y s e n s e l i t e r a c y means a c q u a i n t a n c e

w i t h the alphabet and a b i l i t y to re a d and w r i t e . A ccording to

th e D ictionary of Education edited by Carter V, Good the

meaning of literacy is (i) strictly the ab ility to read and

w rite (ii) More b r o a d l y the a b i l i t y t o r e a d and w rite at the

level of the average fourth grade p u p i l . The term i s relative

and u s u a l l y i m p l i e s th e c o m p a r i s o n o f the i n d i v i d u a l ' s a b ility

to read and w r i t e th e average ab ility found at his social or

ec o n o m ic level.

A person is called litera te if he can read

handwritten, type w ritten or printed matter and also put it

down in w riting. Conceptually, litera cy is a sk ill through

w h ic h an individual posseses master over symbols in w r i t t e n

form, or is able to co d e and d e c o d e w r i t t e n m ess ag e - that is

simply to read and w r i t e . However operational m ea sur es wh ich

evaluate th e individuals reading and w r i t i n g a b ility a w idely

and are d e pe nd e nt on w i d e l y d isperate em pirical d efin ition s.

Cross cu ltu rally one fin ds no satisfyin g defin ition of

litera cy. The U n i te d Nations population co m m is si o n defined

litera cy as ability both to read and to w r i t e s i m p l e message

in any language. A ccording to the census of India 1981 th e

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d efin ition of a litera te person is as .• w A p e r s o n who can

both read and w r i t e with understanding in any lan g ua g e is to

be taken as litera te. A p e r s o n who can m e r e l y r e a d but cann ot

w rite is not litera te. It is not necessary that a p e r s o n who
is literate should have received any formal education or

s h o u l d have passed any minimum e d u c a t i o n a l standard." In th e

Unites states census, literacy was d e f i n e d as equivalent to

the com pletion of six grades of sch ooling. In the Co lom bia

census, literacy is measu red on the basis of the individuals

a bility to w rite his name. In many other national census

individuals are a sk ed if they are able to read newspaper and

w rite a l e t t e r .

Th es e d efin ition s t hou gh su itable for census

purpose fa il to meet the needs o f comprehensive educational

s u r v e y s . The c e n s u s e n u m e r a t o r ' s s c h e d u l e u s u a l l y c o n t a i n s one

o r more q u e s t i o n s l i k e can you r e a d and w r i t e . The c r i t e r i a of

census l i t e r a c y i s t h e r e f o r e n o t h i n g but minimum and ca nn ot be

t e s t e d and v e r i f i e d by a d e t a i l e d exam ination.

The mere attainment of sk ills in reading, w riting

and a r i t h m e t i c is no longer accepted as a sa tisfactory basis

for a d efin ition of litera cy. In 1962 the intern ation al

co m m it tee of experts on literacy enunciated the follow ing

w o r k in g d e f i n i t i o n s wh ic h has been a c c e p t e d by UNESCO.

"A p e r s o n is considered l i t e r a t e who can b o t h read

with understanding and w r i t e a short st a t e m e n t on his every

day l i f e . "
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" A person is called sem i-literate who can read

w i t h a s i m p l e s t a te m e n t on h i s e v e r y - d a y l i f e . ”

UNESCO has lib era lised the concept of literacy and

i t s o b j e c t i v e s have been s t a t e d in t h e f o l l o w i n g c o m p r e h e n s i v e

terms

"Literacy is to h e l p men and women t o live fu ller

and r i c h e r lives in a d j u st m e n t to t h e ch a n g in g e n v i r o n m e n t , to

develop the best elements in their culture, and to achieve

s o c i a l e c o n o m i c p r o g r e s s , w h ic h w i l l e n a b l e them t o t a k e t h e i r

place in t h e modern w o r l d and t o live together in p e a c e . " Four

International conferences on Adu lt Education have been

o r g a n i s e d at E l s i n a r e in 1949, at M o n t r e a l in 1960 at Tokyo in

1972 and in persopolis in 19 75. As t h e d e c l a r a t i o n o f p e r s p o l i s

says - 'L itera cy is not ju st the process of learning the

s k ills of reading w r i t i n g and a r i t h m e t i c , but a contribu tion

t o t h e i n t e r a c t i o n o f man and h i s f u l l d evelopm ent."

The concept of literacy in c o u r s e o f t im e s t r e s s e d

functional aspect, which was accepted in the first world

conference of education M inisters in 1965 at Tehran on the

eradication of illitera cy was organised by UNESCO. The

follow ing statement explains the concept of functional

literacy-" rather than an end in itself, literacy should be

regarded as a way of preparing man for a social, civ ic and

e co n o m ic role that goes far beyond the lim its of rudimentory

literacy trainin g, con sistin g merely in the teaching of

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reading and writing. The process of learning to read and write

should be made an opportunity for acquiring information that

can immediately be used to improve living standards; reading

and writing should lead not only to elementary general

knowledge but to training work, increased productivity a

greater participation in civic life, a better understanding of

the surrounding world and should ultimately open the way to

basic human culture.1 Thus viewed literacy programme should

have three essential ingredients

(1) it must be as far as possible 'Work based' and

aimed at creating attitude and interest and

imparting skills and information which will help a

person to do efficiently whatever he is engaged in.

(2) It must help the illiterate to interest himself in

vital national problems and to participate

efficiently in the social and political life of the

count ry.

(3) It must impart such skills in reading writing and

arithmetic as would enable him if he so wishes to

continue his education either on his own or through

other available avenues of informal education.

It follows that literacy programmes will have three

stages. The initial stage consists of acquaintance with

reading, writing and arithmatic and some general knowledge

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relating to civic and national problems in wh ic h th e en tire

society is i n v o l v e d and t o t h e p r o f e s s i o n in w h ic h t h e l e a r n e r

is en g a g e d . The second stage s h o u l d deepen! t h e kn o w le d g e and

sk ills gained in the in itia l stage and train the adult in

using literacy gained for solvin g personal problems and

enriching personal life. The t h i r d s t a g e s h o u l d lead the adult

to one of the programmes of continuing education. The

E d u c a t io n Comm iss ion <r ( 1964) observed." We d on 't equate

l i t e r a c y w i t h th e th e mere a b ility t o r e a d and w r i t e . L i t e r a c y

if it i s t o be w o r t h w h i l e must be f u n c t i o n a l . It should enable

the literate no t o n l y to acquire su fficien t m a s te r s o v e r th e

tools of litera cy but a l s o to acq u ire relevant k n o w le d g e wh ich

w i l l e n a b l e him t o p u r s u e h i s own i n t e r e s t s and e n d s .

A meeting o f E x p e r t s on literacy h e l d by UNESCO in

1962 recommended un ani mo us ly t h a t the o b j e c t i v e s o f functional

literacy s h o u l d be d e f i n e d as :

" A person is litera te when he has acquired th e

essential k n o w le d g e and s k i l l s which enable him t o en g a g e in

a ll those a ctiv ities in which literacy is required for

effective functioning in his group and community and whose

attainments in r e a d i n g w r i t i n g and a r i t h m e t i c make i t possible

for him to continue to use these sk il ls , towards his own and

community's development."

In quantitative terms the standard of attainment of

functional literacy may be equated to the skills of reading, writing and

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arithetic achieved after a set number of years of primary or elementary

schooling.

The 1962 world conference on Literacy and society held in

Rome took literacy to mean the fluent reading of ordinary newspapers or

equivalent of five years ordinary schooling.

From the Philippines comes the following definition of

literacy for good citizenship, "A good citizen should be able to read

with understanding newspapers, bulletins, advertisements, tax notices

and letters and to write an ordinary le tte r."

Thus literacy is not only the ability to read and write but

also the ability to understand and change the course of life in a better

way. Literacy should make men and women better citizen of the Society

as well as country. It should include the education of every stage of

life .

1 .2 : SIGNIFICANCE OF LITERACY i

Literacy is an essential tool for communication and learning

for acquiring and sharing information, a pre-condition for a person's

physical and mental growth and national development. Literacy is an

essential component for the development of human resource which can

effectively solve some of the basic problems confronting the country

including poverty, injustice etc. Literacy w ill improve the social,

moral, cultural and economic life of the illiterate p e o p le and can

convey the idea of Iself-help and self reliance which will enable them
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1<» f u l f i l l i ho I r flu t l as inwards Ilia n a t i o n ...........

; The literate will learn to co-operate in all

spares of life . They w ill develop 'We feeling* and w ill learn to

subordinate their interest in the larger interest of the community. Thus

literacy will reduce inequalities of all types rural and urban literate

and illiterate, the elite and the masses and so on.

"Illiteracy is a sin, a black mark for India and must be

eradicated" said Gandhiji" in 1939. Morarji Desai said, "Literacy is an

invaluable input for the development of the country, for strengthening

democracy, for intelligent and judicious participation of the citizen.Rajiv

Gandhi said, "Literacy is essential for personal and national progress

. . . Education gives greater inner strength to people, it also helps them

to improve their sk ills." V.P, Singh said, "Right to information would

be meaningless if the majority population remained unable to enjoy it

because of illitera cy ". This reveals the importance said by former

Prime Minister of India on Literacy.

Literacy as a qualitative attribute of the population, is one

of the most important indicators of the socio-economic and political

development of a society. It is observed by the Director General of

UNESCO that education is a key to the future and literacy is the most

essential of all educational sk ills, research all over the world has also

proved that literacy drives is a powerful instrument of economic

development and social change in the country. There is no any problem

of social political and economic nature which is not related to literacy.

Literacy is stepping towards the solution of many crucial problems. A

man without literacy is blind, handicapped, crippled throughout his

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life . Hence it is rightly said, " Education (literacy) is the second

birth. Man may not get salvation without education (lite ra cy ). Literacy

promotes human resources which is very important for nation. It is the

key to progress and a phenomenon cncerned to all.

In the words of the Education commission ‘ Illiteracy must in

time disappear and the school system ensure against its recurrence.

Adult education however, has an ensuring function in the national system

of education. In conditions of rapid change and advancing knowledge,

man must continue to learn in order to live a full life . Learning is the

way of civilised livin g." Again the Education Commission (1964)

wrote."The price which the individual as well as the nation pays for

literacy is high, although one grows accustomed to the persisting malady

and become incensitive to the harm it does. The circumstances of

modern life condem the illiterate to live an inferior existance. He has

little prospect of reasonable income. He remains isolated from the

sophisticated social processes, such as democratic Government and

commercial marketing. The uneducated is in reality not a ^free citizen.

Illiteracy as a mass phenomenon blocks economic and social progress,

affects economic productivity, population control, national integration and

security and improvement in health and sanitation. Dr.V.K.R.V. Rao, in

his book 'Education and Human Resource Development (1966) stated,

'without adult education and adult literacy, it is not possible to have

that range and speed of economic and social development which we

require nor is it possible to have that content quality to tone to our

economic and social development that make it worthwhile in terms of

values and welfare. A programme of adult education and adult literacy

should therefore take front place in programme for economic and social
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developm ent' ,

A ccording to the rep ort of the w orld conference of Education

M inisters held at Tehran in 1965" L itera cy teaching should be re solu tely

oriented tow ards developm ent and should be an integral part not o n ly of

any national education plans but also of plans and p r o je c ts fo r

development in a ll sectors of the national life ." T his means that

lite ra cy programmes should be linked to a ll developm ent plans o f the

country, whether these be econom ic, s o c ia l, p o lit ic a l or cultural in

ch a ra cter.

Internationally it has been accepted that lite r a c y is a basic

human need fo r a person of the modern w orld to liv e a w orthy human

life in its present socio-econ om ic and scie n tific environm ent. When we

speak of lite ra cy as a basic human need we meant that without lite ra cy

man is unable to have the le v e l and kind o f lif e that we can ca ll r e a lly

human.

National and International research es has e sta b lish e d that

there is a clo se rela tion sh ip between lite r a c y and oth er in d ica tors o f

life w hich shows that the countries w here illit e r a c y is high -

1. Per cap ita income is lo w .

2. Infant m ortality rate is h ig h .

3. Urban nourishment i s v e r y serious p ro b le m .

4. L ife exp ectan cy is low .

5. Communicable d ise a se s are w id e s p re a d .

6. Number of persons below p ov erty lin e is h ig h .

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It is therefore, evident that literacy and development are

inextricably, linked with each other.

Addressing the West Zone conference of the international

Association of Education for world peace (IAEWP) Dr.S.N. Prasad,

President, IAEWP said," Illiteracy is a global problem, and it leads to

poverty and powerlesness which contribute to illitera cy. It is a danger

for all forms of Governments and also for democratic values, social

justice and peace. Much of the human crises erupting in the world to­
day, as it has been in the past also the vio lance, killings,

destruction of properties is often due to illiteracy and ignorance. Half

of the ills in the world are due to ignorance and the rest half are due

to egoism." He again said "The larger the literacy the greater the

possibilities of prosperity, justice, equility, non-opression, non-conflict

and non-aggression. But only total and continuing literacy can promote

communal, racial, Social economic and cultural peace through national to

world peace. Through the act of literacy, the oppressed, discriminated

and exploited will become aware of reality and capable to change the

world of exploitation. And the way to continue human is to keep

learning. And thus literacy frees oppressors and oppressed, rich and

poor, males and females, masters and servants, rulers and ruled both."

Casting a close look into the problem of illiteracy as a

global phenomenon with historical perspective it becomes an obvious

conclusion that some of the countries which are enjoying the top

position now so far as the criteria of development are concerned had

intially to deal with illiterate masses. They made a multi-prolonged

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attack at the twin problem of illite ra c y and economic backwardness.

UNESCO statistics shows that though more and more people

are becomingliterate, the increase is losing the battle against the

expansion of population. Thus although there were 625 million illiterate

in the world in 1980 they are likey to be as many as 900 million in

the year 2000 A.D. Again their statistics also indicates that illiteracy

and poverty are inexorably linked and as long as illitera cy continues to

prevail among the people any attempt to bring about social and economic

development is lik e ly to be hindered.

1.3 LITERACY ACCELERATES DEVELOPMENT :

Role of literacy in development has been much discussed and

debated in India and abroad. In fact literacy cannot be separated from

the development process, they are intrinsically related and there is

dynamic interplay between the two atvarious levels of society.

Different literacy programmes in India since 1950 and their impact on

various indicators of social development substantiates the thesis that

literacy can accelerate the pace of development.

Numerious studies indicate that literacy is strongly associated with

higher levels of health and longevity of self, children, better nutrition

and lower level of fe r tility and infant mortality rate. Different

indicators of social development in India during 1951-1991 brings out

this relationship very clearly.

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TABLE NO. 1.1 :

SOCIAL INDICATORS OF DEVELOPMENT FOR INDIA (1951-1991)

Item 1951 1961 1971 1981 ; 1991

1. Literacy Rate (p e r hundred) 16.67 28.30 34.45 43.57 52.21

2. General fe r t ilit y (liv e

b ir th s ) p er thousand N .A. 201.0 192.0 154.0 140.9
women of c h ild bearing
age)

3. C ontraceptive p revalen ce
(Number of users in '000) N .A. N .A. 1.963 3.809 17.905

4. Death Rate (Number p er

thousand) 22.8 19.0 14.9 12.5 9 .8

5. Infant M ortality Rate

(p e r thousand liv e b irth ) 182.5 135.1 129.0 110.0 80.0

6. L ife expectancy at b irth

(o v e r a ll y ea rs) 32.1 41.3 45.6 54.4 59.9

7. Number of lite ra te s
( In m illion ) - 105.52 161.41 235.73 359.28

Source : Prem Chand : S ta tistica l Database fo r L ite ra cy ,

National Institute o f Adult Education,

1993, Vol-II
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While literacy rate increased from 28.30 to 52.21 during

1961-1991 general fertility level and infant mortality rate declined from

201 to 140.9 and 135.1 to 80 respectively.

Declined Fertility Rate : The issue o f population explosion is one o f the

major problems faced by our country. It is observed that illiterate

people are adopting more children. Acceptance of small family norm is

related to the level of literacy achieved by parents and it is more true

in case of mother, literacy promotes knowledge and acceptance of small

family norm. The higher level of literacy, the higher the percentage of

couples adopting small family norm. Despite the massive family planning

of the Government, majority of the poor and illiterate people donot

resort these programmes. Thus illiteracy happens to be the major cause

of population growth. As the No. 11 indicates the general fertility rate

in 1961 was 201.0 when the literacy percentage was only 28.30 and again
the general fertility rate in 1991 has been decreased to 140.9 when the
literacy percentage has been increased to 52.21 percent.

Increased p articip atio n o f c h ild re n in Elem entary Education s

Universal literacy cannot be achieved without giving equal

importance to adult literacy and universilisation of primary education.

Children of literate parents are less likely to dropout, their achiement

in school is generally higher than those of illiterate parents. As J.P.

Naik judiciously argue-1A literate parent is the best gaurantee to ensure

that his children w ill be sent to school and retained there and adequate

attention will be paid to see that they benifit appropriately from

school enrolment. The illiteracy of parents becomes greatest obstacles to

the enrolment and retention of children in the school. It is also

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largest single cause of their early dropou t." Educational statistics since

1950 shows that highly literate state and d istricts have higher ratio for

6-14 age group and lower dropout rates. While highly literate states

like Kerala, Pandichery, West Bengal had an enrolment ratio of 102.45,

141.79 and 125.31 fo r classes - I - V, in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh

which had lower litera cy rate recorder lower enrolment ratio 81.70 and

81.39 re sp e ctiv e ly .

Total litera cy campaigns launched in Pandichery, Tamil

Nadu, West Bengal have shown that the successful operation of, litera cy

campaigns have invariably led to an increase of enrolment in primary

sch ools.

The framers of the Indian constitution in 1950 said that all

children attaining the age of 14 should be educated upto primary school

level by 1960. In other w ords this was to be achieved in 10 years. But

unfortunately even after 46 years the dream has not been rea lised . One

cf the major causes cf this condition is adult illite ra cy . And so if the

importance is not given on adult lite ra cy equally it w ill not be p ossib le

to achieve the dream.

Low Infant M ortality Rate : Infant m ortality is one of the problem s in

India which found to be more among illiterate m others. According to the

date compiled by Registrar General of census operations infant and ch ild

m ortality rate (IMR) in respect to illiterate mother is higher.

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TABLE NO. 1.2 ;

I.M .R . AND EDUCATION OF WOMEN

Educational lev el of women I.M .R .

Rural Urban

Illiterate 145 88

Literate (Below primary) 101 57

Primary and above 71 47

Source : Yojana Sept. 1-15, 1990

Table 1.2 revealed that the literacy of the parents

especially mother and cultural background (rural and urban) influence

the infant m ortality rate. Hence litera cy of mother is a significant

factor for contributing to the m ortality and health of her ch ild .

Literacy w ill also help in childcare and immunisation. Literate parents

are more lik e ly to accept immunisation of children. Programmes lik e

prompting breast feeding, spreading or oral dehydration therapy are

much more lik e ly to succeed with literate m other.

Literacy and P sychological make up : Through education (lite ra cy )

people become aware of their social and legal rig h ts. They also

becomeconscious of the cause of th eir deprivation, start participating

more in the process of development, develop income generating s k ills

and become active participant in the process of social reconstruction.

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W o m e n a c q u i r e b e t t e r s t a t u s a n d v o i c e in t h e a f f a i r s o f f a m i l y a n d

c o m m u n it y . L i t e r a c y a l s o h e l p s t o l i b e r a t e t h e m fr o m b l i n d a c c e p t a n c e

o f t r a d i t i o n a n d s u p e r s t i t i o n s . T h r o u g h l i t e r a c y w o m e n c a n a l s o m a r c h

e q u a l l y w it h t h e i r m a le c o u n t e r p a r t s t o w a r d s t h e p r o c e s s o f s o c i a l

r e c o n s t r u c t i o n .

L i t e r a c y a i d E c o n o m ic D e v e lo p m e n t s In v i e w o f t h e l o w s t a n d a r d o f

l i v i n g in o u r c o u n t r y , t h e p r i m a r y e m p h a s i s m u s t b e p l a c e d o n e c o n o m ic

d e v e l o p m e n t . A l i t e r a t e p e r s o n h a s g r e a t e r a c c e s s t o k n o w le d g e w h i c h

w i l l a s s i s t in h i s p e r s o n a l im p r o v e m e n t t h a n a n i l l i t e r a t e o n e .

K .N . S in g h a n d P .N . J h a in t h e i r jo i n t s t u d y h a v e s u p p o r t e d

t h e p r o p o s i t i o n t h a t e d u c a t io n i s t h e m o s t p o t e n t f a c t o r t o i n i t i a t e a n d

b r i n g a b o u t e c o n o m ic d e v e l o p m e n t . T h e y h a v e q u o t e d a n u m b e r o f s t u d i e s

h a v e a t t r i b u t e d t h e c l o s e p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n e c o n o m ic

d e v e lo p m e n t a n d e d u c a t io n t o t h e f a c t t h a t e d u c a t io n i s t h e m o s t

e f f e c t i v e in s t r u m e n t o f c h a n g e in a t t i t u d e , v a l u e s , m o t i v e s , n e e d s a n d

s k i l l s .

T h e h i g h l e v e l o f i l l i t e r a c y a d v e r s e l y o f a c t s t h e

d e v e lo p m e n t p r o g r a m m e s in t h e c o u n t r i e s . N e it h e r d e m o c r a t i s a t i o n n o r
A

m o d e r n is a t io n i s p o s s i b l e to b e f u l l y r e a l i s e d w it h o u t l i t e r a c y .

1 .4 . W O R L D S IT U A T IO N IN R E G A R D T O L IT E R A C Y :

I l l i t e r a c y h a s b e e n a n in t e r n a t io n a l p r o b l e m . I t h a s b e e n

d r a w in g a t t e n t io n o f t h e a d m i n i s t r a t o r s in b o t h d e v e l o p e d a n d d e v e l o p i n g

c o u n t r i e s . T h e p h e n o m e n o n t h a t h a s b e e n g a in in g g r o u n d t h r o u g h o u t t h e

w o r l d a f t e r t h e 2 n d w o r l d w a r i s a n in c r e a s i n g c o n c e r n f o r 1 0 0 p e r c e n t
 19
literacy," not as an end in itse lf, but as a means to bring about the
socio-economic and cultural transformation of mankind," In many countries

different studies on literacy are still going on. One of the most
significant factors that has been found associated with socio-economic

and cultural backwardness is illite ra cy . According to the available

statistics there are over 900 million illiterate in all over the world,

and out of 900 million illiterate as many as 520 million illiterates are

found in Asia alone. That is why Asia is called the biggest store house

of illiterates in the world. In this way all the illiterate population is

not evenly distributed all over the world. Most of these illiterate

people live in South East Asian countries, Latin America and African

countries. It is a matter of common know ledge that these are the

countries where poverty, hunger and diseases are deeprooted. Table

No. 1.3 shows estimated number (million) of adult illiterates by region,

from 1980 to 2010. This table is also graphically presented in the page

N o.- 20

TABLE NO. 1.3 :

ESTIMATED NUMBER (MILLION) OF ADULT ILLITERATES BY REGION

Region 1980 1995 2010

Developed countries 29 13 7

Latin America/Caribbean Arab States 44 43 39

Sub-Saharan Africa 126 141 147

Eastern Asia/Oceania 276 210 126

South Asia 346 4’ 16 471

@ Figures compiled by UNESCO's Division of Statistics

Estimated Number of(Million) of Adult Illiterates by Region

□ 1980
El 1995
□ 2010

Developed Latin Sub- South Asia

Countries America/ Saharan A s i a/
Caribbean Africa Oceania
20

Arab
 21

Tha p e r c e n ta g e of lite r a c y a ls o v a r ie s fro m 100 to 14 a c c r o s s

d iff e r e n t c o u n t r ie s o f t h e G lo b e . T a b le 1 .4 s h o w s that v a r ia t io n of lit e r a c y

p e r c e n ta g e .

T ABLE NO. 1 .4 :

LITERACY PERCENTAGE IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES (A S ON 1990)

C o u n try P e r c e n ta g e C ou n try P e r c e n ta g e

A u s tr a lia 99 Kenia 60
A u str ia 99 M on gp lia 98
A rg en tin a 97 M o u ritiu s 83
A fg a n isth a n 14 M a la y a sia 74
A r a b S ta tes 51 M ynm ar 79
B r ita in 99 M a x ic o . 80
B elg iu m 99 M o r ro c o 20
B r a z il 78 M a li 17
B u lg a ria 95 N ew zelan d 98
Bhutan 25 N ik argu a 88
B a n g la d e sh 33 N orw ay 99
C z e k a s lo v ia 98 N o r th -K o r ia 90
C anada 99 N a iz a ria 14
C o sta R ica 90 P a k is th a n 30
C h ina 85 P u e rto R ica 85
C o lo m b ia 88 P o la n d 99
Cuba 85 Rom ania 95
Denm ark 100 S w itz a r la n d 99
E t h io p ia 66 S w eeden 100
F ran ce 99 South A fr ic a 70
F in la n d 100 S r ila n k a 47
G erm any 99 S outh K oria 95
H u n g e r/ 99 Spain 95
G reece 90 Sudan 23
H oland 99 T h a ila n d 91
I t a ly 97 U .S .S .R . 99
Isra el 95 U .D .A . 99
Iran 51 Uganda 58
Ira k 89 Vietnam 80
In d ia 52 Zim bague 74
In d o n e sia 74 Japan 99

S ou rce s T apadar, A . K ., A H a n d b ook o f A dult E d u c a tio n , page - 31

 22

It is a fact that some of the countries which are enjoying the top
position now so far as the criteria of development are concerned had
initially to deal with illiterate masses. They made a multi pronged

attack at the twin problem of illiteracy and economic backwardness.

With the aid of the second world war and the accession of many

countries to independence, there was wave of campaigns and crusades

against illiteracy in Europe, latin America, Asia and Africa. Though

these campaigns widespread literacy and emphasized for economic

development and social change, but a number of these campaigns were

short lived , due to lack of adequate preparation, organisation and

resources, produced only limited results or turned out to be failure.

Although illiteracy is a problem in the countries like U .S.A., U.K.,

Fiance, Canada, yet this problem in these countries are not acute enough

in comparison to the nature of these problems in underdeveloped

countries like India,

Problem of illiteracy has been one of the main Social

maladies facing the communist countries and some of them have succeeded

to a large extent to solve the problem. Before the Revolution 1917 near

about 74 percent of U.S.S.R. population were illiterate, but after the

Revolution Soviet Government first of all tried to make those illiterate

persons literate and invited all the Soviet people to fight against

illiteracy. As a result within ten years 62 percent of U.S.S.R.

population attained the permanent status of literacy.

In an effort to eradicate illiteracy the world over by the

year of 2000 A.D. the UNESCO in co-operation with UNICEF and UNPHA

has launched an education for all initiative among nine largest populous
 23
d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s i n w h i c h t h e f i v e c o r r e s p o n d i n g c o u n t r i e s o f t h e

A s i a n a n d p a c i f i c r e g i o n w e r e a c t i v e l y p a r t i c i p a t i n g .

1 .5 s LITERACY IN INDIA !
I n d i a i s t h e s e v e n t h l a r g e s t c o u n t r y a r e a w i s e a n d s e c o n d

m o s t p o p u l o u s c o u n t r y i n t h e w o r l d . I t m e a s u r e s a b o u t 3 , 1 2 0 k m s . f r o m

N o r t h t o S o u t h b e t w e e n e x t r e m e l a t i t u d e a n d a b o u t 2 , 9 7 7 k m s . f r o m E a s t

t o W e s t b e t w e e n t h e e x t r e m e l a t i t u d e s . I t h a s a l a n d f r o n t i e r o f 1 5 , 2 0 0

K m s . a n d a c o a s t l i n e o f a b o u t 6 , 0 0 0 K m s . T h e m a j o r i t y o f i t s

p o p u l a t i o n l i v e i n r u r a l a r e a s . I t h a s 5 , 9 6 , 0 0 0 v i l l a g e s a n d 2 , 6 4 3 t o w n s

a n d 2 2 s t a t e s a n d 9 U n i o n t e r r i t o r i e s .

T h e s i t u a t i o n i n r e g a r d t o l i t e r a c y i n I n d i a i s q u i t e

d i s a p p o i n t i n g . A f t e r 5 0 y e a r s o f i n d e p e n d e n c e m o r e t h a n h a l f o f t h e

t o t a l i l l i t e r a t e o f t h e w o r l d a r e l i v i n g i n t h i s c o u n t r y w h i c h i s 6 4 % o f

t h e t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n a n d 5 4 . 8 % f o r t h e a g e g r o u p 1 5 - 1 9 y e a r s o f t h e

t o t a l i l l i t e r a t e p o p u l a t i o n .

I n d i a w a s m o r e i l l i t e r a t e i n 1 9 6 1 t h a n 1 9 5 1 w i t h a n a d d i t i o n

o f 3 4 m i l l i o n i l l i t e r a t e s . T h o u g h t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f l i t e r a c y h a s r i s e n

f r o m 1 6 . 6 7 % i n 1 9 5 1 t o 2 1 . 0 2 i n 1 9 6 1 , 2 9 . 4 7 % i n 1 9 7 1 , a n d 3 6 . 1 7 % i n 1 9 8 1

t o 5 2 . 1 1 % i n 1 9 9 1 , a f e s t e r g r o w t h o f p o p u l a t i o n h a s p u s h e d t h e c o u n t r y

f u r t h e r b e h i n d i n i t s a t t e m p t t o r e a c h u n i v e r s a l l i t e r a c y . T h e t o t a l

p o p u l a t i o n o f I n d i a i n 1 9 5 1 w a s 3 6 1 m i l l i o n w h i l e i t h a s b e e n i n c r e a s e d

t o 8 4 m i l l i o n i n 1 9 9 1 . A c c o r d i n g t o 1 9 9 1 c e n s u s , t h e n u m b e r o f l i t e r a t e

p e r s o n s i n t h e c o u n t r y s h o t - u p f r o m 2 3 4 m i l l i o n i n . 1 ) 9 8 1 t o 3 5 2 m i l l i o n

i n 1 9 9 1 , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d t h e r e i s a s m a l l i n c r e a s e i n t h e n u m b e r o f

i l l i t e r a t e f r o m 3 0 2 m i l l i o n t o 3 2 4 m i l l i o n d u r i n g t h e l a s t d e c a d e ( 1 9 8 1 -
 24

91). the total literacy rate in 1991 was 52.11% with a male literacy

level 63.86% and female literacy level of 39.42%. In 1961, 1971 and 1981

census children below 5 years of age were treated as illitera tes but in

the 1991 census, all children below 7 years of age were considered
illitera te. Observing the litera cy data1 from 1901 to 1991, a poor

progress is noticed in table No. 1.5, which is also d isp layed

graphically in the page No.

TABLE NO. 1.5 :

LITERACY IN INDIA FROM 1901 TO 1991

Year Literacy Rate Male Female

1901 5.35 9.83 0.60

1911 5.92 10.56 1.05

1921 7.16 12.21 1.81

1931 9.50 15.59 2.93

1941 16.10 24.90 7.30

1951 16.67 24.95 7/93

1961 24.02 34.95 12.95

1971 29.45 39.45 18.69

1981 36.17 46.74 24.88

1991 52.11 63.86 39.41

Again the variation in litera cy rates across the different

states is shown in the Table No. 1.6

 Literacy in India from 1901 to 1991

□ Literacy
H Male
□ Female

O ro -P* O i CD -v l 00 CD
CD CD CD CO CD CD CD CD CD CD
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25
TABLE NO. 16 26

LITERACY RATE IN THE DIFFERENT STATES

Rank States/UT Percentage P er. of Female Total Literacy

o f male Literacy Percentage
Literacy

1 Kerala 94.45 86.93 90.59

2 Mizoram 84.06 78.09 81.13
3 Lakshadeep 87.06 70.88 79.23
4 Chandigarh 82.67 73.61 78.83
5 Goa 85.48 68.01 76.96
6 Pandiehery 83.91 65.79 74.91
7 Delhi 82.63 68.01 76.09
8 Andaman
Nic ho bar
Island 79.68 66.22 73.74
9 Daman & Diu 85/67 61.38 73.58
10 Tamilnadu 74.88 52.29 63.72
11. Himachal
Pradesh 74.57 52.46 63.54
12 Maharashtra 74.84 50.51 63.03
13 Nagaland 66.09 55.72 61.30
14 Manipur 72.98 48.64 60.96
15 Gujarat 72.54 48.50 60.91
16 Tripura 70.08 50.01 60.39
17 West Bengal 67.24 47.15 57.72
18 Punjab 63.68 49.72 57.14
19 Sikkim 64.34 47.23 56.53
20 Karnataka 67.25 44.34 55.98
21 Haryana 67.85 40.94 55.33
22 Assam 62.34 43.70 53.42
23 Orissa 62.37 34.40 48.55
24 Meghalaya 51.57 44.78 48.26
25 Andhra
Pradesh 56.24 33.71 ' 45.11
26 Madhya
Pradesh 57.43 28.30 43.45
27 Uttar Pradesh 55.35 26.02 41.71
28 Andhra
Pradesh 51.10 29.37 41.22
29 Dadra & Nagar
Haveli 52.07 26i 10 39.45
30 Rajasthan 55.07 20.84 38.81
31 Bihar 52/63 23.10 38.54

TOTAL 63.86 39.42 52.11

Source : Census of Lidia 1991

 27

From the Table 1.6 it reveals that the state of Kerala

stands at the top with the literacy rate exceeding 90 percent followed by

Mizoram, Lakshadeep, Chandigarh. On the other hand Bihar shows poor

performance with 38.54% as compared to other states. Some states like

Orissa, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,

Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, rajasthan and Bihar have

literacy rate below national average. It is also observed that there is a

great desparity between &ale-^life racy f and ;fe male -■lit e ra c y .

Age group 15 years and above :

Expectation of birth in India is increasing slowly and

definitely. Consequently the proportion of older population is increasing

„ and that of younger population is decreasing. Children below 15 years of

age formed 42% of the population in 1971. In 1981 their proportion went

down to 39.5% and it was projected to be about 36% for 1991 by the

expert committee on population. On the basis of this projection,

population of the age group 15 and over 1991 works out to 540 million.

Population of the age group 15 and over and literacy/illiteracy situation

for the census years from 1951 to 1991 are given in the Table No. 1.7.

TABLE NO. 1.7 t

LITERACY / ILLITERACY POSITION OF ADULT POPULATION AGED

15 YEARS ABOVE (In Million)
Year Population Literates Illiterates Literacy Rates(%)
."1951 ---- ZT5731-------- ------51758--------- ---- 1737^6-------- ------------ T9726-----------
1961 258.86 71.86 187.00 27.76
1971 . 317.83 108.32 209.51 34.08
1981 403.30 164.53 238.7? 40.78
1991 540.00 259.00 281.00 48.00

Source : Tapadar, A.K., A handbook of Adult Education, page-16

 28

It is observed that number of literates and the literacy

rates for 15 and over age group population has also increased

substantially during the last decades. But the number of illiterates also

continues to grow. Our estimates of literacy for the age group 15 and

over also tally with the projection of illiteracy situation made by

UNESCO. According to these estimates India has the highest number of

illiterates in the world constituting 29% of the total estimated over 900
million illiterates of the world.

I.% LITERACY POSITION IN ASSAM :

A land of hills and riv e rs, Assam is one of the most

beautiful states of India, Assam has the total area of 78,438 sq.km, and

the total population of Assam is 2,24,14,322 out of which male population

is 1,16,57,989 according to the 1991 census. The density of population is

284 sq.km, at present for the state as a whole. Assam is one of the

educationally backward states of India. The literacy percentage in Assam

is also poor in all the census years although it is higher than the

National average.

In Assam, as per 1991 census, the literacy percentage is 53.42 with

male literacy 62.34 and female 43.70, which is higher than the National

level. By making a comparative study of the variation in literacy rates

of Assam and that of India, it is seen that Assam has kept intact its

tradition of a higher percentage of literacy than the national level.

(Table No. 1.8)

 29

TABLE NO. 1.8 .•

LITERACY PERCENTAGE OF ASSAM AND INDIA SINCE 1961

Year India Assam

1961 24.02 32.50

1971 29.45 33.32

1981 36.17 N .A.

1991 52.11 53.42

Source : D irectorate of Econom ics and S ta tistics, Assam

In Assam th ere is also d e s p a rity between male lite r a c y and

female litera cy (Table No. 1,9)

TABLE NO. 1.9 :

LITERACY RATES IN ASSAM

Year Male L iteracy Female L itera cy Total

1961 44.28 18.62 32.50

1971 42.96 22.31 33.32

1981 NA NA NA

1991 62.34 43.70 53.42

Source : D irectorate o f Econom ics and S a t is f ie s , Assam

 30

There is also variation in literacy percentage of 23

different districts of Assam. Table No. 1.10 shows the literacy rate in

the different districts of Assam as per 1991 census.

TABLE NO. 1.10 :

LITERACY PERCENTAGE IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS OF ASSAM

SI. No. Total Population Literacy Rate

Total Male Female Male Female Total

1. Dhubri 1,325,653 679,335 646,318 47.32 28.75 38.31

2. Kokrajhar 796,880 410,272 386,608 19,57 30.92 40.57
3. Bongaigaon 806,472 415,635 390,837 58.67 38.72 49.06
4. Goalpara 661,801 338,323 323,478 55.47 37.58 46.81
5. Barpeta 1,382,715 712,861 669,854 52.61 33.20 43.24
6. Nalbari 1,012,608 522,655 489,953 66.95 44.19 55.99
7. Kamrup 1,987,662 1056,525 931,137 73.67 55.01 65.04
8. Darrang 1,286,633 663,596 623,037 50.80 32.53 42.00
9. Senitpur 1,418,484 742,455 676,029 56.70 38.60 48.14
10. Lakhimpur 749,678 387,942 361,733 68.28 48.45 58.96
11. Dhemaji 472,183 244,467 227,716 65.43 41.12 53.84
12, Morigaon 640,376 329,977 310,399 56.17 39.19 47.99
13. Nagaon 1,892,087 978,220 913,867 62.49 46.20 54.74
14, Gola ghat 801,740 417,234 384,506 66.50 49.75 58.54
15. Jorhat 868,445 453,001 415,444 73.29 56.88 65.51
16. Sibsagar 895,112 467,610 427,502 71.91 56.14 64.46
17. Dlbrugarh 1,038,090 544,141 493,949 66.72 48.89 58.32
18. Tinsukia 963,176 608,703 454,473 59.2? 39.99 50.28
19. Karbi Angloi ig 655,415 342,649 311,766 55.55 34.35 45.57
20. N.C. Hills 149,346 79,536 69,180 66.39 47.34 57.76
21. Karimganj 825,551 424,118 401,433 64.05 44.76 54.71
22. Hailakandi 448,506 232,236 216,270 64.08 41.04 53.07
23. Cachar 1,215,952 627,202 586,750 68.79 48.76 59.19

Source : Statistical Handbook, Assam, 1991

 31

F r o m t h e T a b le N o . 1 ,1 0 , it i s c l e a r t h a t J o r h a t d i s t r i c t

( 6 5 .5 1 ) h a s a c h i e v e d h i g h e s t p e r c e n t a g e o f l i t e r a c y f o l l o w e d b y K a m r u p

( 6 5 .0 4 ) a n d S ib s a g a r ( 6 4 .4 6 ) w h i l e D h u b r i d i s t r i c t h a s t h e lo w e s t

l i t e r a c y p e r c e n t a g e ( 3 8 . 3 1 ) . F e m a le l i t e e r a e y p e r c e n t a g e in a l l d i s t r i c t s

i s b e l o w m a le l i t e r a c y .

1 . 7 N E E D O F T H E P R E S E N T S T U D Y :

A s i l l i t e r a c y i s o n e o f t h e m a jo r p r o b l e m s o f I n d i a , a s s u c h

v a r io u s e f f o r t s h a v e b e e n m a d e a t n a t io n a l a s w e l l a s s t a t e l e v e l to

e r a d i c a t e i l l i t e r a c y . N a t io n a l A d u lt E d u c a t io n p r o g r a m m e w a s la u n c h e d o n

2 n d O c t o b e r - 1 9 7 8 a l l o v e r ' - c o u n t r y w i t h t h r e e c o m p o n e n t s - L i t e r a c y ,

F u n c t i o n a l i t y , a n d a w a r e n e s s . D e s p i t e t h e e f f o r t s t h e s it u a t io n w a s

c o n t in u e d to b e c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y lo w l e v e l o f l i t e r a c y . S o N e w E d u c a t io n

p o l i c y 1 9 8 6 h a s g iv e n c o n s i d e r a b l e a t t e n t io n t o t h e n e e d f o r e r a d i c a t i o n

o f i l l i t e r a c y la u n c h in g N a t io n a l l i t e r a c y M is s io n (N L M ) in t h e m o n t h o f

M a y 1 9 8 8 to im p a r t f u n c t i o n a l l i t e r a c y t o 8 0 m i l l i o n i l l i t e r a t e p e o p l e 's in

1 5 -3 5 y e a r s a g e g r o u p b y 1 9 9 5 .

B u t t h e s e c e n t r e b a s e d a p p r o a c h h a s s u f f e r e d fr o m s e r i o u s

l i m i t a t i o n s . N o a n y p r o j e c t s h a v e c o m e a n y w h e r e n e a r e r a d i c a t i o n o f

i l l i t e r a c y . W it h t h e c h a n g e o f t h e s t r a t e g y f r o m c e n t r e b a s e d a p p r o a c h t o

c a m p a ig n a p p r o a c h , t h e d o m in e n t s t r a t e g y u n d e r t h e N L M is n o w T o t a l

L i t e r a c y c a m p a i g n ( T L C ) . T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f T o t a l L i t e r a c y C a m p a ig n in

t h e y e a r 1 9 8 9 a n d in t o i n i t i a l s u c c e s s in s o m e d i s t r i c t s in p r o m o t in g

l i t e r a c y h a s ‘ b e e n p u r s u e d a t d i s t r i c t l e v e l a s t h e m o s t e f f e c t i e m e a n s o f

t a c k l i n g t h e p r o b l e m o f i l l i t e r a c y in I n d i a .
 32

With the campaign in the country the state of Assam has

also launched TLC in a few of its d is tr ic ts . Jorhat is the first d istrict

of Assam to take up Total Literacy campaign. Jorhat d istrict is located

at the upper part of Assam, and 313 km. far from Guwahati, the capital

of Assam. Jorhat has a unique history of its glorious past. The total

population of the d is trict is 8,68,445 and the literacy rate is 65.5

percent as per 1991 census.

More important from the point of view of launching TLC is

the contribution of Jorhat in the field of education, literature, art and

culture. All through the ages Jorhat made very significant contribution

through their litera ry w ork. Present day Jorhat d istrict has besides

Sadar Sub-Division and the other Sub-Division Majuli is the largest riv er

island of the w orld . State Government selected - Jorhat d istrict for

launching TLC prim arily fo r the reason that the litera cy rate in Jorhat

d istrict is highest and the d istrict has always been in the forefront of

learning. TLC in Jorhat d istrict was launched on 8th September, 1992,

which was proposed to cover 1,20,000 learners. TLC has been

implemented in Jorhat d istrict under Jorhat Zilla Saksharata samity which

is a voluntary organisation with Deputy Commissioner, Jorhat as the

President to impart functional litera cy to 1,20,000 persons of the target

group between 15-45 years within a period of one year.

"The investigator selected the present study entitled

“perspective of Total Literacy campaign: A case study of Jorhat D istrict"

for the reason that it is necessary to know how effe ctiv e ly the campaign

was functioning and to ascertain to what extent the learners could

percieve and react to the campaign. The term "P erspective" has been
 33

used as the present study attempts to draw a total picture o f TLC in the

district and to know the way of implementation of the campaign in the

district. Through this study it is tried to know the reasons for success

and failure of the campaign in the d istrict. It will help to a great

extent in understanding the various ways in which the campaign is

implemented.

The present study has been undertaken with the following

objectives : -

1. To assesss the performance o f TLC in Jorhat d istrict.

2. To study the perception and reaction of the beneficiaries

towards the TLC in Jorhat d is tr ic t..

3. To find out the problems in the implementation of TLC in

Jorhat d istrict.

4. To suggest positive and constructive suggestions for future

action.

The work is expected to solve a number of problems,

associated with future planning as well as rapid growth and development

of literacy in the state.

* * *