Literacy Rate and Standard of Living

What is Literacy Rate?
Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. If a person can read and write he is termed as a literate person and if cannot, he is termed as illiterate. Literacy rate, in simple words, is the percentage of people in an area who are literate. In India, the literacy rate is the percentage of people who can read and write with the understanding in any one or more language. A person who can only read but not write is also termed as illiterate. The youth literacy rate is the literacy rate among the people in the age group of 15 to 24 years. The literacy rate in India is calculated in two different ways:

• Crude Literacy Rate
• Effective Literacy Rate

The crude literacy rate is calculated by taking in account the total number of residents in a given geographic area and the number of literate people among them whereas the effective literacy rate is calculated by taking in account the number of people who are aged seven years and above in a given geographic area and the number of literate people among them.

Literacy Rate around the Globe   

The global literacy rate in the people in the age group of 15 years and above is 84.1 per cent. The literacy rate in the males around the world is 88.6per cent while it is 79.7 per cent of the females. According to CIA world factbook, 75 per cent of the illiterate population of the world is found in ten countries. These ten countries are:

• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Indonesia
• Brazil Egypt
• Ethiopia
• Nigeria
• Bangladesh
• Pakistan
• China
• India

Among all the illiterate population of the world, women are the two third parts. South Asia, West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa are the regions where an awfully low literate rate is seen. The whole continent of Africa has a literacy rate lower than 60 per cent.  According to the data collected between the years 2010 and 2011, the countries with the highest literacy rate are:

• Russia
• Canada
• Japan
• Israel
• United States of America
• South Korea
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom
• Finland
• Australia

According to CIA, the top ten countries with the lowest literacy rate are:

• Burkina Faso
• South Sudan
• Afghanistan
• Niger
• Mali
• Chad
• Somalia
• Ethiopia
• Guinea
• Benin

Literacy Rate in India

According to the 2011 census, the literacy rate in India is 74.04 per cent. The male literacy rate is 82.14 per cent while the female literacy rate is 65.46 per cent. The literacy rate in 2001 was 64.8 per cent. Therefore, the literacy rate in India has increased by 9.24 per cent in 10 years. The literacy rate in India at the end of the British rule was just 12 per cent. There is also a sharp increase in the literacy rate of females.  In accordance with the 2011 census, Kerala is the state with the highest literacy rate of 93.91 per cent whereas Bihar is the state with the lowest literacy rate 63.82 per cent in the country. Lakshadweep group of islands have the second highest literacy rate at 92.28 per cent and Mizoram is the state with the third highest literacy rate at 91.58 per cent.  The capital of the country, Delhi, has the eighth highest literacy rate of 86.43 per cent. The states with very low literacy rate are:

• Bihar
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Rajasthan
• Jharkhand
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Andhra Pradesh
• Uttar Pradesh

Literacy Rate and Standard of Living

Literacy rate has a vast effect on the standard of living of the people of a country. An illiterate person cannot get a good job and therefore will not enough money because the jobs with high salary packages are reserved for that population of the country which has a high literacy rate. Due to lack of money, his standard of living will not be up to the mark. He may be able to buy the basic needs for the living of his family but buying luxurious item would not be easy for him. This will decrease is standard of living. In many cases, the illiterate people will not be able to educate their children and this hierarchy will continue until generations. The gap between the rich and the poor will become wider due to illiteracy.  Moreover, if the majority of the population of a country is illiterate, it will have to face many large challenges to transform into a developed country from an underdeveloped one. For a country to be developed, it needs educated people. Engineers, doctors, scientists, pilots, accountants are a must for a country to be developed. If there is very low literacy, there will be a very less human resource which will prove beneficial for development. Therefore, in the absence of literacy, it is just impossible for a country to develop.

Factors Affecting Literacy Rate

The literacy rate is affected by many factors. They are:

• Poverty: It is the major cause of low literacy rate. The state of living without sufficient access to basic necessities of life like food, shelter and clothing is called poverty. According to the United Nations, thirty crore people in India live in extreme poverty.  It is very difficult for these people to earn a square meal for themselves and for their families. In short, it is very difficult for these people to survive in this world. Due to lack of money, these people are not able to send their children to school. They cannot afford an education. With so many people under the poverty line, the country’s literacy rate will gradually decline if the roots of poverty are not curbed.
• Population: China is the most populated country in the world with 19 per cent of the world’s population followed by India which has 17.4 per cent of the world’s population.  India not only has the world’s second largest population but it also has the majority of the world’ illiterate population. The available resources are very few in comparison to the population. Due to this, the poor people have to suffer. There is a common thinking in poor people’s mind that the number of children they have it is equal to the number of earning hands in the family. So these people, instead of sending their children to school, put them to work. With such a large population, the infrastructure usually becomes a limitation. The schools are not enough to educate all the child population.
• Social Evils: With so many cultures, there are many different rituals associated with each culture. All the rituals are not good. Some rituals are very evil. In India, there was a ritual a very long back, in which the parents would marry their daughters at a very young age of 6 or 7 years and sometimes, just after their birth. These little girls get engaged in household works and get deprived of basic education.
• Corruption: Today, the whole system is corrupt. Everyone wants money. The funds which are provided for the construction of schools are just used for filling the pockets of the officials. It also happens that the government announces for construction of new schools, but the schools are not constructed at all. Then the government changes and the plans are dropped.
• Gender Inequality: Countries like India and Pakistan are very gender bias. The society is a male dominant society. The families think only the male child needs to be educated because he is the one who is going to be the successor of their family. The girl child is then ignored. It is thought that the girl has to get married and move to another house so there is no purpose in educating the daughters. This is the major cause of very low literacy rate in women than in man.
• Emigration: Flying abroad is the latest trend prevailing in every educated person’s mind. The educated person wants to settle abroad. If the educated people will move to another country, the literacy rate of the country will naturally decrease.
• Backward Thinking: Some people are very orthodox. They think that the modern education is not good and consequently, they reject it. The children of these families are then deprived of the education.

Conclusion
Literacy is very important in everyone’s life. It is very difficult for an illiterate person to survive in this world. We can say that it is just next to impossible. According to the constitution of India, every person has the right to education. No social evil or any kind of discrimination cannot stop a person to gain the education. It is just the wrong thinking of the people which is responsible for the low literacy rate of the country. It becomes the responsibility of every individual to eradicate these evils which stops a person for education.  The government should also take some steps to increase the literacy rate of the country. Proper rules and regulations should be imposed to promote education. Awareness programs should be organized to make people aware of the benefits of education. The special schemes should also be formed for poor people who cannot afford education. Education is very important and no one should be deprived of it. The nation’s goal should be cent per cent literacy.