Four out of 10 Indian adults illiterate: aid groups
(AFP)13 December 2007
NEW DELHI - Four out of 10 adult Indians are illiterate despite government efforts to extend primary education, putting India below Brazil, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Thailand in a report released on Wednesday.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should do more to ensure education for all in a country of over one billion people, said the Global Campaign for Education Report released here by a network of voluntary groups, teachers unions and aid groups like Oxfam.
Singh was ranked 61st among 178 country heads and bagged 50 points out of 100 for his efforts to ensure education for all, Oxfam said in a statement.
The report noted that many developing countries -- including Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Thailand -- had achieved a breakthrough in extending coverage of basic education in the past 18 years, ranking above India.
Access to primary education has improved considerably in India, but drop out rates remain very high, said the statement.
While adult literacy rates have improved, nearly 40 percent of Indias adult population remains illiterate.
In particular, Singh needed to focus attention on improving the levels of education among girls, the statement said.
The government is responsible for ensuring that every child receives basic education, said Oxfams Avinash Kumar.
According to Indias education ministry, the dropout rate for boys averaged 39 percent at the primary level in 2001-2002, while with girls of the same age it was nearly 42 percent.
Under Indian law, all children between the ages of six and 14 must be given a free education.
In 2005, the Indian government announced plans to give free higher education to girls from one-child families to redress gender disparities in a society skewed towards men.
Khaleej Times Online - Four out of 10 Indian adults illiterate: aid groups
