Words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in a message to Indians overseas, on 15th August 1947
"On this day of liberation the motherland sends her affectionate greetings to her children abroad. She calls them to her service and to the service of freedom wherever they might be. Every Indian abroad is a representative of India and must ever remember that he has the honour of his country in his keeping. That is a proud privilege and responsibility”.
These are
some new slogans we have been hearing a lot lately. Now the point is, India is trying
to educate its citizens and she has been trying for years! So how far has she
succeeded?
First of
all, the abysmal ground reality is that India’s literacy rate is still below 75
per cent. Though the rate has of course increased over the years, we are not
yet there. And we still have a long way to go! The adult literacy rate (15 yrs
and above) is about 61 per cent while the youth rate (15-24 yrs) is about 73
per cent. Amongst the states, Kerala has the highest literacy rate and Bihar
has the lowest. Nonetheless, the growth in literacy rate has been incredible.
Most people know that literate females are fewer than their male counter parts
in our country. At this point, one must keep in mind that most of India is
rural and a bit orthodox in their thinking.
Today, as
most of you might have noticed, English is becoming increasingly popular. Ever
noticed that little kid who comes to you at the traffic signal? Doesn’t he know
a few words of English? So would you call him literate or illiterate? The National
Literacy Mission defines literacy as ‘acquiring the skills of reading, writing
and arithmetic and the ability to apply them to one’s day-to-day life’. That
child may not have gone to a school; he may not even know that he was talking
in English! Most of them today don’t know ‘Hindi’ numbers, but on the other
hand English numbers are on their finger tips. It is the same with directions
and simple words like ‘yes’, ‘no’ etc. How many times have you sat in a
rickshaw and then suddenly realized that the driver knows English? Or don’t you
absent mindedly give him directions in English? Or what about when you just
know the address of somebody’s place, and your driver helps you point out the
house? Ever thought about how he reads those house numbers? I wonder how many
people have realized that the digits on a cell phone are in English and not in
Hindi or any other regional language. But it is a common misconception that
just because a person knows English, people think he’s educated! Most of them
know English only because that is what they have grown up hearing. Come to
think of it, the logic people use indirectly means even a 2-3 year old kid is
educated! On the other hand, many people also think that just because a person
doesn’t know English, he is uneducated. This is also not true. Many people in
India are educated in their regional language and not in either Hindi or
English.
Today,
the government is trying to increase the literacy rate with the help of a whole
lot of new programs. The ‘Sarva Siksha Abhiyan’ was started in 2001, and it
aimed at ensuring that all kids between the ages of 6-14 years attended school
and completed 8 years of education by 2010. This wasn’t the first program to be
launched but earlier programs weren’t as successful. One of the most popular
schemes adopted to attract children to schools is the ‘Mid-Day Meals Programme’
launched in 1995. The department of education has started Bal Bhavan centres
all over the country to promote creative and sports skills in children between
the ages of 6-14 years. They conduct programs in fine arts, aero-modelling,
computer education, sports, martial arts, performing arts etc. Off late, new
programs to promote the education of girls have been initiated. One such
incentive is a fixed amount of money which is given to the family at the end of
the school life of a girl child.
Today,
private companies too are lending a helping hand to this noble cause, Like the
‘Teach India’ program launched by The Times of India, or the NGO ‘Literacy
India’ which helps underprivileged children with their dreams and aspirations
of good quality higher education or the National Literacy Mission which pays
special attention to women’s education. Another foundation that helps educate
the underprivileged is The Smile Foundation. Mission Education is a national
level program started by the foundation which focuses on basic education for
underprivileged children and youth. They are working with ‘partner
organizations’ in various states across India. One can visit the following link
for more information on the organization. http://www.smilefoundationindia.org/
Infect,
recently even a telecom company has started an advertisement campaign with the
same theme — how to educate more people with less resources. It is something to
think about. The idea is that through the concept of distance learning we can
teach those who do not have access to schools and colleges near them.
One of
the major problems we face is lack of infrastructure. It is not easy to create
schools for our large and ever growing population. Today ‘good’ schools mean
expensive schools, mostly private which most lower middle class people cannot
afford. That is the fact—every year education gets more and more expensive. It
is a vicious cycle—the more the population, the more the unemployment, and the
more the unemployment, the more illiteracy, and the more the illiteracy, the
more the population will keep growing! We need to break this cycle somewhere.
And like they say, nothing is impossible! If each one of us contributes in our
own way, we can make a difference. The government had come out with a slogan, a
few years back – Each One Teach One – if we follow that slogan, we could easily
help the cause. You don’t need to go out on the streets to find someone to
teach, just look in your own house—the maid’s daughter, or that little boy who
comes to collect the garbage. They should be studying instead of working. But
yes since for them earning is important for survival, we can make a difference
by giving them lessons. We just need to wake up from our complacent lives and
try to make a difference!
Priya
Ganguli
