The Vice President said that literacy learning can be made more
meaningful if it is linked to the daily lives of the learners. He further said
that community learning centres can become the hubs of literacy learning and
community empowerment. Let us create a new India built on the strengthened base
of a literate, educated, empowered Population, he added.
Following is the text of Vice President’s address:
“I am extremely happy to be with all
of you in the national celebration of the 51st International
Literacy Day.
Today is a very special
day dedicated to literacy that has been celebrated world over ever since UNESO
accepted the recommendation of the World Congress of Ministers of education
held at Tehran in 1965.
This day reminds us of
the importance of literacy in the development architecture of all countries and
its crucial, central role as a development accelerator. It is a day when we
recollect our freedom struggle and the words of Mahatma Gandhi who had said
that mass illiteracy is a sin and shame which must be liquidated. It is a day
when we reflect on our progress over the last 70 years, as Pandit Nehru so
eloquently put it on the midnight of 15th August 1947, “to bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to
create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice
and fullness of life to every man and woman”.
As we take stock of
what we have achieved over the years, we can look back with pride at the many
milestones we have crossed in our journey. Only 18 percent of our population
could read and write in 1947. Today, nearly 74 percent of our population have
acquired the basic literacy skills. Over 95 percent of children are in school
and nearly 86 percent of young people are functionally literate. It is not a
small achievement. However, we have to draw inspiration from our past successes
and move forward in the years to come.
We certainly have a
long way to go. We cannot ignore the fact that today nearly 35 crore youth and
adults are outside the literate world and therefore are unable to participate
effectively in contemporary India’s development and growth. Add to this about
40 percent of our school children are not acquiring the basic literacy skills
proficiently enough even after completing the cycle of elementary education. We
have a formidable challenge that needs to be recognized and systematically
addressed.
Today provides an
opportunity for us to celebrate our collective achievements. It is an inspiring
saga of untiring efforts. Many individuals and institutions have contributed
to this national effort. The enlightened rulers of Travancore and Baroda
expanded education opportunities. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Welthy Fisher and
Laubach set up Literacy House in Lucknow in 1953. There were active campaigns
for adult literacy like Grama Shikshana Mohim in 1959. Excellent momentum was
generated through the 1990s by the Government of India’s National Literacy
Mission. Thanks to these efforts, nearly three fourths of our population today
can read and write.
However, the challenge
still remains and acquires a sense of urgency in the current Indian and global
context. The government believes, as Prime Minister Modiji reiterated at the
BRICS conference in Xiamen, China on 5th of September, 2017: “The
bedrock of our development agenda lies in the notion of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka
Vikas”- that is : Collective effort, inclusive growth”. The country is also
embarking on a faster development trajectory to shape a new India in the next
five years. Globally, we have committed to the implementation of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by all nations at the United Nations
in January 2016. The global agenda envisages a “world with universal literacy”
and one of the targets set in the agenda, to be achieved by 2030, is
specifically focused on youth and adult literacy.
Target 4.6 of the
Sustainable Development Goals is as follows:
“By 2030, ensure that
all youth and substantial proportion of adults both men and women achieve
literacy and numeracy”.
If we have to move at a
faster pace and achieve a literate world by 2030 and India has to ensure that
all youth and a substantial proportion of adults acquire these skills, we may
have to review our past strategies and after an assessment of what has worked
and what has not, learn from successful examples from within our country and
outside. We may have to chalk out new ways to reach out to those learners who
have not been reached till now.
Clearly, this has to be
a collective effort with the government leading the process but with the active
involvement of civil society and the Private sector.
It has to be a societal
mission with a clearer understanding of the catalytic role literacy can play in
shaping a new India.
I recall the words of a
famous Telugu poet Gurajada Apparao who had said: “Deshamante Matti
Kaadoy, Deshamante Manushuloi” (Country is not the land under our feet but
it is the people who live on the land). It is the quality of life of the people
which characterizes a country. It is the equality that determines how the
fruits of development are shared. We have a commitment to inclusive growth. We
consciously adopt the ‘antyodaya’ approach to reach out to the poorest
of the poor. We design programmes that don’t leave any one behind. Against this
backdrop and underlying guiding principle of ‘Sabka Vikas’, it is
obvious that literacy provides the first essential step towards building a
participative, vibrant, and a more inclusive democracy.
Literacy helps
individuals to access and exercise various rights and entitlements provided to
them under the Constitution. It is seen that problems like poverty, infant
mortality, population growth, gender inequality are better resolved by a
literate society. Besides being the stepping stone for all forms of formal
learning as well as lifelong education, literacy enables individuals to access
and avail economic, political and social benefits.
In the Indian context,
literacy can play an important role of empowering, transforming and improving
quality of life of individuals as well as society, especially women and those
belonging to disadvantaged groups of society.
We should continue to
strive to achieve universal literacy through the two pronged approach we have
been following earlier. First, we must improve the quality of pre-primary and
school education to ensure that all children graduating from school have the
necessary literacy skills. Second, we must provide opportunities for learning
to those who have never been to school or have dropped out of school and those
young people and adults who need to acquire basic skills to expand their
livelihood opportunities.
Keeping in view the
importance of literacy in the individual’s life and society as a whole, the
Government of India have adopted Saakshar Bharat and Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan as key programme instruments which are being implemented in the
country. The Saakshar Programme is primarily focused on promotion of literacy
in rural areas of low female literacy districts and this has also helped in
establishment of an institutional framework for promotion of adult education
centres right up to the Gram Panchayat level. I am glad that the focus has
been on female literacy because of its potential multiplier effect on societal
development as a whole leading to better health outcomes and nutritional
status.
It is indeed heartening
to note that every year more than one crore adult learners appear in the
bi-annual Learners Assessment Tests held across the country and that around
6.66 crore learners have successfully passed the Assessment Test conducted by
National Institute of Open Schooling up to March 2017, of which about 70 per
cent are women. I firmly believe that these neo-literates, majority of who are
women, will be the ambassadors of our programme leading towards making Saakshar
Bharat a Saksham Bharat.
I am happy to learn
that National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) is not only engaged in
imparting basic literacy to the adult learners but has also ventured to forge
convergence and partnerships with various agencies to link literacy with other
dimensions of socio-economic development like electoral, financial and legal
literacy, primarily amongst rural women. I am told that under financial
literacy, a special drive was undertaken in Saakshar Bharat Districts to
mobilize more than one crore Saakshar Bharat learners to open and operate their
bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. NLMA also participated in
Suraksha Bandhan drive for Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. NLMA’s state
partners such as State Literacy Mission Authorities (SLMAs), State Resource
Centres and Jan Shiksha Sansthans successfully motivated over one crore
beneficiaries to avail benefits of this scheme.
I have been informed
that apart from these initiatives, NLMA has also taken proactive initiative for
alignment of Saakshar Bharat with Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) in
achieving cent percent literacy in respective Gram Panchayats. Large number of
Members of Parliament, who had visited the Saansad Adarsh Grams adopted in
Saakshar Bharat Districts reportedly, had the opportunity to appreciate these
efforts and give guidance to these activities. Concerted efforts in Saansad
Adarsh Grams have yielded good results and hopefully such efforts would be
gradually extended to cover other Gram Panchayats.
Literacy programmes can
add significant value if they can be creatively linked to the ongoing
initiatives of the government like Swachh Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana, PM Suraksha Bima Yojana, PM Ujjawala
Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Digital India Mission and Skill
India Mission.
Significant achievement
in terms of literacy rates as reflected in Census data over the decade is
primarily on account of expansion of elementary education supplemented with
implementation of a series of adult education programmes especially Saakshar
Bharat. In addition, enforcement of RTE Act, for all children has also helped
in reducing the pool of adult illiterate population. However, despite all these
significant policy interventions, India continues to have a large population of
illiterates. We are home to one third of the total illiterate population of the
world.
I think it is an
opportune time for all of us to undertake a comprehensive review of the
programme/ activities undertaken and to identify the critical areas which still
need to be addressed.
I am happy to learn
that Human Resource Development Ministry has decided to redesign the Saakshar
Bharat programme to make it more focused and to ensure that all children, youth
and adults acquire the literacy and numeracy skills required for more effective
functioning by 2022. I am equally happy to learn that in the new variant of the
Saakshar Bharat Programme, the school/college students are likely to be
involved, for teaching their illiterate parents, grandparents and their
neighbours.
We
must use technology to make the literacy programmes more effective. Digital
learning materials can address the diverse learning needs of different age
groups more effectively. Literacy learning can be made more meaningful if it is
linked to the daily lives of the learners. Community learning centres can
become the hubs of literacy learning and community empowerment.
I am glad to note that India is a part of the UNESCO-led
initiative called the ‘Global Alliance for Literacy within the Framework
of Lifelong Learning’.
India can take a lead in contributing to this global effort to transform the
literacy landscape of the world in the next 15 years.
Before I conclude, I
would like to congratulate all those who have received the Saakshar Bharat
Awards for their outstanding contribution in the field of adult literacy. The
good work done by the awardees can be an inspiration for others to carry
forward the programme in other Gram Panchayats, Districts and States. I take
this opportunity to call upon all stakeholders, including State Governments,
Civil Society Organizations, NGOs, Corporate Bodies, the intelligentsia and my
fellow citizens to join hands in transforming India to a fully literate society.
I would also like to exhort all the stakeholders and beneficiaries in the field
of literacy to fulfil the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and the founding fathers of
our constitution. Let us create a new India built on the strengthened base of a
literate, educated, empowered population. Let us realize that heaven of freedom
dreamt of by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore: “Where the mind is without fear and
the head is held high, where knowledge is free; where the world has not been
broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls”.
Jai
Hind”
***
