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Literacy is one of the most essential indicators of the quality of a country’s human capital. Literacy can be viewed as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, compute and communicate. Literacy is a harbinger of development. Some of the most developed nations like the USA and UK have 99% of literacy, whereas China has 97% of literacy. The progress that India has made in the realm of child and youth literacy often gets offset by the poor performance in the literacy of Adults.
This is one of the reasons, why India still ranks low in most of the global human indexes. As per the reports published on 31st October 2019, the data puts India’s adult literacy rate at 73.2%. While the country has made significant progress in improving literacy over the years, it continues to be home to 313 million illiterate people, of which 59% of them are women.
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The biggest effect of illiteracy in India is poverty, and in turn, poverty happens to be the single cause of illiteracy. The chicken and egg problem. Moreover, illiteracy has a direct impact on the high unemployment rate of India. Illiteracy has deemed them unable to find a job and earn. So illiteracy, unemployment, and poverty come together in any society and any country. People are unable to find education for their children, and they grew up illiterate. Every tenth child in India is a victim of child labor. They are hard-pressed for working in various industries to support their families because poverty is the prime cause of this vicious cycle. Illiteracy has a direct relation with lower development in every field. Since they have lesser access to education, growth, and opportunity, they are unable to contribute in any form.
Illiteracy in India is because of a complex web or spiral of the social and economic divide. Economic disparities, gender discrimination, caste discrimination, and technological barriers lead to illiteracy in India. India has the largest population of illiterate adults in the world, which further contributes to the vicious cycle of illiteracy in India. The problem of illiteracy is the result of various causes, that are generally interrelated. There’s no better way to describe the debilitating relationship between poverty and unemployment. Poverty at its core is a life-crippling condition. The money to support the increasing, uneducated, and non-productive population of India, is a big burden on the exchequer.
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Education is the very string that is holding India back from taking a position at the world level. The perpetuation of illiteracy leads to grave and tragic consequences, not only for the individual or the family or for the society, but the whole country. Illiteracy not only marginalizes an individual’s opportunity to fully participate, rather limits his contribution for productive development for society. It does not just harm that person’s life but on the overall development and growth of the society and the country. Illiteracy is evil for society and passes from generation to generation. Illiteracy facilitates a multitude of negative pathways upon multi-generations and society as a whole. Whereas literacy is one solution, which works like a vaccine.
Illiteracy is a huge problem, especially for developing countries like India. When the literacy rate rises in the rural area, it will automatically resolve the issue of poverty, as well as unemployment, and also help in arresting migration to some extent. The state should also offer the financial support, that children need to participate in literacy programs. We must initiate serious efforts in the area of literacy, not only for children, but for uneducated or illiterate adults, and especially for women. Because an educated woman will have a huge impact, not only on herself but also on her children.
Literacy is like a sword in the battle of life. As India climbs the development ladder, literacy must occupy a high spot on the policy agenda of the country. The reason is, it not only has a high intrinsic value but is also a powerful tool for change and a dependable force multiplier. As a nation, India must aim to conquer the hurdle posed by illiteracy, not only to preserve economic vigor but also to ensure that every individual has a full range of opportunities to reach his or her potential and also for personal fulfillment and participation in society. The growth of any nation depends on the participative and contributive percentage of the people of that country. India is her people. India can reach its potential when every citizen will contribute to the building of this great country.
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Tags: #battle of life, #create, #getgreengetgrowing, #gngagritech, #greenstories, #identify, #interpret, #life, #Literacy, #understand
