TOI:Education:Feb.15,2008
1/3 of the countrys youth are illiterate, finds TISS study
Mumbai: India may pride itself for being a young country where 70% of its people are below 35 years, but how many of them can benefit from an economy that is growing at 9% and how many are left in the shadows?
According to a research paper released last week by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), which covered 593 districts across the country, one third of the countrys youth are illiterate and have little chance of entering the organised labour market and are largely excluded from the economic growth.
The demographic dividend that the Prime Minister spoke about last year may actually be a mirage, says Bino Paul GD, the associate professor at TISS who headed the study called Educational Attainment of Youth and Implications for Indian Labour Market.
While one in every three young people is illiterate, the report shows that the illiteracy rate for 27 districts is two out of three and in 182 districts, it is between 35%-50%. The female illiteracy rate is double that of males and the condition is higher in rural areas than that in urban localities.
When we compare the years of schooling that those in the organised sector had received, we found it threefold that for the casual labour market, said Paul, adding that a large proportion of the countrys youth had little access to the organised labour market owing to their low education.
Most of the literate youth had not studied beyond Std VII and very few had gone in for higher education. At a time when over half of the countrys GDP comes from the service sector, which will soon be the major source of employment and requires skilled manpower with high levels of educational attainment, a large section of the youth will not make the grade, said Paul.
Comparisons were made between Kerala, known for its high level of literacy, and Bihar, which is at the other end of the spectrum. Kerala was ahead of Bihar for its pupilteacher ratio inside the classroom, the number of students per class as well as toilet facilities in schools. Of the districts surveyed in Bihar, 42.9%-82.1% of students were able to make the transition from primary school to middle school, while the rest were drop-outs. In Kerala, 87%- 100% of students continued studying after primary school.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Centres plan to universalise education, was not spread out evenly across the country and did not foster a thirst for lifelong learning, says Paul. According to the researchers behind the TISS report, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be linked with free education in order to boost literacy levels.
anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com
According to a research paper released last week by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), which covered 593 districts across the country, one third of the countrys youth are illiterate and have little chance of entering the organised labour market and are largely excluded from the economic growth.
The demographic dividend that the Prime Minister spoke about last year may actually be a mirage, says Bino Paul GD, the associate professor at TISS who headed the study called Educational Attainment of Youth and Implications for Indian Labour Market.
While one in every three young people is illiterate, the report shows that the illiteracy rate for 27 districts is two out of three and in 182 districts, it is between 35%-50%. The female illiteracy rate is double that of males and the condition is higher in rural areas than that in urban localities.
When we compare the years of schooling that those in the organised sector had received, we found it threefold that for the casual labour market, said Paul, adding that a large proportion of the countrys youth had little access to the organised labour market owing to their low education.
Most of the literate youth had not studied beyond Std VII and very few had gone in for higher education. At a time when over half of the countrys GDP comes from the service sector, which will soon be the major source of employment and requires skilled manpower with high levels of educational attainment, a large section of the youth will not make the grade, said Paul.
Comparisons were made between Kerala, known for its high level of literacy, and Bihar, which is at the other end of the spectrum. Kerala was ahead of Bihar for its pupilteacher ratio inside the classroom, the number of students per class as well as toilet facilities in schools. Of the districts surveyed in Bihar, 42.9%-82.1% of students were able to make the transition from primary school to middle school, while the rest were drop-outs. In Kerala, 87%- 100% of students continued studying after primary school.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Centres plan to universalise education, was not spread out evenly across the country and did not foster a thirst for lifelong learning, says Paul. According to the researchers behind the TISS report, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be linked with free education in order to boost literacy levels.
anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com