Literacy in South Asia

[RiazHaq]

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I may also add that although predominantly muslims attend madrassas, many disadvantaged non-muslims also take advantage of them for their free / low fee requirements.

As do many poor Hindus who need food and shelter, in addition to education.

The results of BSMEB declared on Monday showed that 100 Hindu girl and boy students have passed different grade examinations. BSMEB chairman, Maulana Ezaz Ahmad said that all the Hindu examinees were regular students of madrasas.

http://www.merinews.com/article/for-a-change-hindu-students-pass-ma drasa-board-in-bihar/15784083.shtml


His faithful contemporary biographer writes,

"Rammohun with his new found madrasa knowledge of Arabic also tasted the fruit forbidden to Brahmins of Quran and was converted to its strict monotheism. Rammohun's mother Tarini Devi was scandalised and packed her son off to Benares (to study Sanskit and Vedas) before he could take the irrevocable step. In Benares, Rammohun's rebellion continued and he persisted in interpreting the Upanishads through the Holy Quran's monotheist strictures especially against idolatry. Benares, the spiritual seat of traditional Hinduism, was awash with temples to the billion gods of Hindu pantheon, and Rammohun would not complete his formal Vedantic education there. He instead travelled widely (not much is known of where he went, but he is said to have extensively studied Buddhism at this time) to eventually return to his family around 1794 when a search party sent by his father tracked him down to Benares in the company of some Buddhists with similar notions. Between 1794 and 1795 Rammohun stayed with his family attending the family zamindari holdings. There was considerable friction in the family between Rammohun and his father, who died in about 1796 leaving some property to be divided amongst his sons.

Ram Mohan Roy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Before, a bad year would lead to a good year," said Bharat Dogra, a fellow at New Delhi's Institute of Social Sciences specializing in the Bundelkhand region. "Now climate change is giving us seven or eight bad years in a row, putting local people deeper and deeper in debt. I expect the situation will only get worse."

An estimated 200,000 Indian farmers have ended their lives since 1997, including many in this area, largely because of debt.

A 2007 study of 13 Bundelkhand villages found that up to 45% of farming families had forfeited their land, and in extreme cases some were forced into indentured servitude. Tractor companies, land mafia and bankers routinely collude, encouraging farmers to take loans they can't afford, a 2008 report by India's Supreme Court found, knowing they'll default and be forced to sell their land.

Haq's Musings: Climate Change Worsens Poverty in India

 

[EjazR]

'The community wants to catch up with others' - Special Report - Sunday TOI - Home - The Times of India

Mewat, a Muslim-dominated district of Haryana, is one of northern India's most backward regions. On August 1, it makes a significant effort to pull itself up by its bootstraps. The region's first engineering college opens its doors. The college was set up by the Haryana Waqf Board and is seen as a pathbreaking project for the Meo Muslims in the area. Aftab Ahmed, 44, a trained lawyer, is the local MLA. He played a key role in making the new college a reality. He tells Deepender Deswal what it means for the Meo community, Mewat and the Muslim community as a whole across India. Excerpts:

How and when did the Haryana Waqf Board decide to open an engineering college in Mewat?

In 2008, A R Kidwai, then governor of Haryana, came up with the idea and asked the Haryana Waqf Board to take the initiative. Now, the admission process has started and 42.5% seats are reserved for Muslim students. We hope to begin Masters' degrees and MBA courses in the second and third phases.

How hard was it to get government clearances for this college?

Almost the entire process — from procuring land to getting affiliation and approval — has been smooth. The Waqf Board had 13 acres land and four more acres were procured from two nearby villages. The college got AICTE approval and is affiliated to the Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. The funds were no problem for the Waqf Board, thus, at present there is no need to look to the government for funds.

What difference will this college make to this backward region?

The lack of literacy and education has been the main cause of the area's backwardness. But the engineering college will be a catalyst in development. The local people are excited about the project. The college is a symbol of changing times. I hope it will create new aspirations and provide inspiration to the younger generation.

Why is your region, just 50 km from the national capital, still so underdeveloped and backward?

Too much focus of the Centre and state governments on developing Gurgaon as a world-class city led to complete neglect of its rural hinterland comprising the Mewat region, which was earlier part of Gurgaon. For almost 25 years, urban Gurgaon remained the priority and nobody went beyond the city to see what's happening in the countryside. People could not raise their voice against this lopsided approach due to lack of awareness and education. The focus, however, has been reset since Mewat was made a new district. Now we have administrative machinery that's dedicated to the district and the state government has been liberal about releasing funds for infrastructure projects in the region. Around Rs 1,200 crore is being spent on a road network in the district.

Some say the Haryana initiative is part of the Muslims community's desire to change and modernize. Is the Haryana board encouraging other boards in the country to take similar steps in the field of education?

Earlier people were hesitant in allowing their children to go for higher studies. Now they have realized that an educated and trained child is an asset to the family. People here want to change. Though the Haryana Waqf Board manages many madrassas and other educational institutes, setting up the engineering college is a unique project and I hope other states will follow the Mewat example.

Is there really a significant change in the way Muslims now view education and professional qualifications?

The fast changing economic and social scenario in the country has led to a change in the thinking in the community, which had confined itself to a closed way of living. Now they know that they need to open up. The realization that they have been lagging behind has given additional thrust to their efforts. Apart from this college, a medical college at a cost of around Rs 650 crore is under construction in Nuh. It is one of the biggest, it will have 1,000 seats... six other ITIs are being upgraded. These projects will bring big change here.

 

[TopCat]

Something is really wrong here, especially the line that is highlighted.


Country Adult Literacy Rate Youth Literacy Rate
China 91% (2000-2005) [4] 98.9% (2004)[5]
India 66% (2000-2007)[6] 82% (2000-2007)[7]
Nepal 44.0 62.7
Pakistan 56.2[8] 53.9
Sri Lanka 92.0 98.0
Bangladesh 41.1 49.7


Source: Literacy in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Definition of literacy in BD is different than other countries in SA.

15+ adult who could show the literacy equivalent to the 5th grade standard is called literate. Even though the definition does not explicitly talked about 5th grade but the test done and the question asked are of 5th grade standard.

Out of 100, who scores more than 50 called literate 25-50 called semi literate and below 25 called illetarate.

Anybody below 11 years of age are not included in the literacy statistics.

In this list BD is shown as the least literate country which is only 49% but in my opionion if the uniform definition is applied to every country then BD will top the list.

Thanks and cheers

 

[EjazR]

Indian Madrasas are not terror hubs: US official | ummid.com

Malegaon: Indian Madrasas are not terror hubs. This is why we are supporting their activities, a US official said here on February 03.

“Madrasas are not terror hubs. They are religious schools governed by Islamic laws and Islam is about peace and love”, said Beth Brownson - Vice Consul for Political Affairs, Consulate General of the United States - yesterday in Malegaon.

“I think it is either because of hatred or because of lack of knowledge that people talk such things. Otherwise, there are very very few and isolated Madrasas in the world that might have indulged in such activities”, Ms. Brownson said yesterday while addressing the staff of Jamia Mohammadia and Kulliah Aisha Siddiqua at Mansoora in Malegaon.

“As far as we are concerned”, she added, “We support the activities of Madrasas. We consider them as the institutions that open the doors of education for many people, who otherwise don’t have a viable option.”

“We have very positive attitude towards Madrasas. This is why we are here”, she said adding, “We are working on various programs with Madrasas throughout India.”

Ms. Brownson’s visit was part of the Obama administration’s campaign to bring dialogue between people from various communities and to propagate religious freedom, equality and human right safeguards given to the people in the United States. She was accompanied by Tasneem Kalsekar, who is a Cultural Affairs Specialist attached with the American Center in Mumbai.

During her visit to Malegaon, Ms. Brownson visited Jamiatus Salehat for girls, Kulliah Aisha Siddiqua for girls and Jamia Mohammadia, Mansoora for boys. All the three institutions are internationally recognized for their contribution towards providing education to the Muslim students specially the girls.

 

[Hasnain2009]

The low literacy rate of Pakistan as compared to India worries me most.
India surely leads in this field.

 

[EjazR]

Word?s out: Literacy rate up but well short of plan panel target - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: India's literacy rate has touched 74%, according to the provisional results of the 2001 Census, up from 65% in 2001 and just 52% in 1991. But this is well short of the target set by the Planning Commission to achieve a literacy rate of over 85% by 2011-12.

Only 10 states and Union Territories with mostly with very small populations, barring Kerala with a population of 33 million and Delhi with 16 million, are over the 85% target.

Four high-population states accounting for about 44% of the country's population, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, have not even managed 70% literacy and Madhya Pradesh just about touched 71%.

Bihar and Rajasthan have the lowest literacy rates among major states in the country, 64% and 67% respectively, and they also have the lowest female literacy rate of about 53%. The huge disparity in improvement of literacy can be gauged from the fact that there are still districts like Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh and Bijapur in Chhattisgarh where the literacy rate is as low as 37% and 42% respectively.

The census definition of literacy is the ability to both read and write in any language. The population below six years is not counted as they are considered illiterate irrespective of their ability to read or write.

Not only is India's literacy rate inching upward, what is even more heartening is that the male-female literacy gap has been significantly reduced in the last one decade. While the percentage growth in overall literacy during this period is 39%, for men it was 32% and for women it was a very high 49%. In the decline of 312 million among illiterates between 2001 and 2011 women accounted for 171 million outnumbering the men (141 million).

In fact, the gap in literacy between men and women has been reduced to an all-time low of just 16.7 percentage points. In 2011, male literacy is 82% and female literacy about 65.5%. In 2001, this gap was 21.6 percentage points. Out of almost 218 million literates added during the decade, 110 million were women compared to just 107 million men. The states and union territories which have reduced the male-female literacy gap to 10 percentage points or less are Chandigarh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Lakshadweep, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar islands. Again, all these have very small populations, except Kerala.

The state with the largest gap in male and female literacy is Rajasthan, with an almost 28 percentage point difference. The other states with a large gap mostly in the region of 20 percentage points are Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar.

Having crossed the 70% literacy mark, though India would now be out of the league of countries with very poor development record, it is still way below countries like Congo (81%), South Africa (88%), Brazil (90%), Sri Lanka (91%) and China (93%) and has a lot of catching up to do.

 

[The HBS Guy]

What's South Asia got to do with this?

 

[Veeru]

What's South Asia got to do with this?

Read the title of the thread = Literacy in South Asia.

 

[Ababeel]

But he is discussing literacy in India alone and not South Asia.