World Literacy Day, September 8, is an occasion to introspect and renew efforts to fight the growing malaise of illiteracy. Notwithstanding an annual expenditure of $80 billion on education, some 855 lakh people are illiterate globally, two-thirds of them being women. Estimates suggest that an additional funding of at least $7 billion annually will be required for the next decade to achieve universal primary enrollment by 2010.

Inspite of India's largest educational system in the world after China, the goal of universal elementary education is yet to bear fruit. Among several factors including economic and social backwardness, lack of consciousness about the value of education, financial constraints on the part of the Govrnment in making facilities available to children (in school-going age) and adults (who missed the chance to attend school at the right age), over 335 million people in the country are illiterate as per 1991 census figures. That 50 per cent of the population are deprived of reading or writing, and only 66 out of 100 men and 38 out of 100 women are literate, depicts the gravity of the situation.

Of the 50 per cent who are able, 25 per cent are dropouts of the 8th standard. With the lowest literacy rates in the world, on an average only 62 Indians out of 100 are able to read or write. Though plans for provision of educational facilities at school level having got underway as early as 1911, ironically, the expansion of literacy has not kept pace with population growth.

Despite various efforts, there is still a long way to go to achieve freedom from illiteracy. Reasons galore. A state subject until the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in January 1977, education got shifted to the concurrent list. The failure to eliminate illiteracy is attributed to piece meal approaches coupled with systemic faults in the implementation of several programmes thereof by the Central and State Governments. Most importantly the expenditure on education in the country is pegged at a meagre 3.4 per cent of the gross national product, (against the world average of 4.6 per cent).

Mainly paucity of funds, which has been responsible for sliding educational standards, has sidetracked an inevitable responsibility of the State to provide education of good quality to accordingly bring about a social change. The Public Report On Basic Education (PROBE), which focussed on school infrastructure, supervisory mechanisms and parental attitudes, has revealed alarming data. Although an overwhelming majority of parents in rural areas desperately wanted their children to attend school, the children sent to school were eventually withdrawn after realising the abysmal quality of most government-run elementary schools. In States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan many schools were found to lack proper buildings, facilities and teaching aids.

That education continues to remain a middle-class obsession is quite appalling. Whereas 46 per cent of the population (still living below the poverty line) who look upon their children just as income-earners, is shameful. Reports indicate that more than 5 per cent of the total Indian population are child workers; ten of thousands are chiefly engaged in agriculture and associated activities in rural areas including a variety of industries and informal sector jobs in urban areas. Many mushrooming private schools functioning virtually at will exploit parents; education has been increasingly commercialised.

Barring a few educational institutions, where both teaching and research are taken seriously, the problem of paucity of funds and also the laxity to check the mismanagement of available funds by some institutions has compounded the mess in education. Latest figures depict that 38.33 and 41.34 per cent of boys and girls respectively dropout of schools before they reach 5th class and less than a third of the survivors are able to clear the secondary school level. According to UNICEF, 11 crore children are out of school in India, of whom 4 crore have never been enrolled.

The 2000-2001 Union Budget has placed additional emphasis on elementary education by hiking the plan allocation from Rs 2,931 crore to Rs 3,729 crore. The budgetary provision for post-matric scholarship scheme to improve the education standards among Scheduled Castes has also been increased from Rs 70 crore to Rs 130 crore. Other new initiatives to achieve at least 75 per cent literacy by the year 2005 include the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme (to enroll all children in the school-going age by 2003), expansion of the District Primary Education Programme (to cover the remaining districts in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Gujarat) and the creation of a new Department of Elementary Education and Literacy, (to give a new thrust and focus on these efforts.

The creation of infrastructure and development of programmes to meet the exponential demand for education will need massive investment. Some computations indicate that the requirement of lower primary school teachers in 2006 would go up from a level of 17.9 thousand in 1996 to 22.43 lakh; from 11.96 thousand to 15.04 lakh in the upper primary stage; from 9.27 to 12.62 lakh in the secondary stage and from 6.16 to 8.06 lakh in the senior secondary stage. Correspondingly, estimated rise in the salary of teachers would be from Rs 1186 crore in 1997 to Rs 3195 crore in 2006 in the lower primary stage; Rs 792 to Rs 2142 crore in the upper primary stage; Rs 781 to Rs 2319 crore in the secondary school stage and Rs 62 to Rs 1696 crore in the senior secondary stage.

The minimum amount the country would need to spend over the 9th plan period to educate all children is Rs 40,000 crore. This requires just a 0.5 per cent increase in GDP every year for the next five years. But with existing limitations of Government-funding there is an imprative need for privatisation of education through increased public investment. With India ranking 132 in the world on human development index, it is essential to endorse the vast masses with correct vision.

It needs to be realised that among the basic needs of a citizen, which come under the concept of a welfare State, primary education is crucial. A coherent educational policy is essential to draw both children and adults who missed the opportunity into the learning sphere. Education for girls, not having received the attention it deserved, requires smashing of all barriers. Essentially, the focus of education ought to encompass cognitive and interpersonal skills—the classroom pedagogy merits fine-tuning with the cultural content of the pupil. To make parents realise the importance of education and demand the same for their children, creating awareness is vital. School dropouts are a typical problem because when they leave studies midway they get deprived of various other skills which form the foundation for learning through life.

Examples of nations who are blessed with significant prosperity consequent to their success in awarding education “to one and all” are aplenty. To emulate successful examples of literacy, those in the echelons of power need not look outside the country. Kerala is a shining example of being first in the country to take an early lead in 100 per cent literacy. The Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) initiated since 1997 in Madhya Pradesh, besides having reportedly motivated people to send their children to schools (thanks to creation of community ownership of primary schooling facilities), is said to have made a visible difference to the quality of their life. EGS has been instrumental in creation of primary school facilities within one kilometer of some 19,289 habitations.

Another new project, in operation, the Padhna Badhna Scheme that aims to bring more people into the net of literacy, particularly in the age group of 15 to 50, has over nine lakh people on its rolls. Involving the user, the overall literacy level in the State is expected to be raised from the present 44 per cent to a challenging 70 per cent by 2001. Under this scheme, the illiterates, apart from being encouraged to form groups of 20 to 30, can undergo training under a teacher of their choice.

In Himachal Pradesh, besides higher state expenditure on education, more effective supervision and active interest of village communities has led to a situation where most young children reportedly attend school regularly and receive a fairly decent education. In Tamil Nadu, the mid-day meal programme and in Karnataka provision of free text books/uniforms has been responsible for improving enrollment.

Eradicating illiteracy is a mammoth task that requires religious efforts and political will. Since education empowers people to effectively combat the forces responsible for social stagnation, there can be no complacency in efforts to attain freedom from illiteracy.