While Kerala can draw satisfaction over its continuing robust performance with regard to literacy – the state remains at the top in the country with 96.2% of its population literate -- several other states, including Karnataka, need to urgently up their grades. There is a lot for India to worry about. According to the latest report of the National Statistical Office (NSO) – the report draws on data collected in 2017-18 – the national average literacy rate is 77.7%, way below the global average of 82%. Of particular concern are the low levels of literacy recorded in the southern states, which have generally been regarded as more developed and literate. With a literacy rate of just 66.4%, Andhra Pradesh is the least literate state in the country. Karnataka, which often prides itself on being economically better off than most other states, has a 77.2% literacy rate. Three South Indian states – Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra – have literacy rates lower than the national average.
The NSO report reveals large gaps in the literacy rate among men and women. The all-India male literacy rate is 84.7%, compared to the female rate of 70.3%. In general, states which have a higher literacy rate show a narrower gender gap in literacy. The gap between male and female literacy rates is just 2.2% in Kerala. Rajasthan, which is notorious for its patriarchal culture, has a male literacy rate of 80.8%, compared to 57.6% for females. A similar trend is evident with regard to the urban-rural gap in literacy. Urban literacy is just 1.9 percentage points higher than the rural rate in Kerala. This is in contrast with states like Telangana and Andhra where rural literacy lags behind urban literacy by 23.4% and 19.2% respectively.
Successive governments at the Centre have put in place an array of programmes to improve school infrastructure, increase literacy and arrest dropouts. Are the state governments implementing these programmes diligently? Improving literacy, education and skills is vital not just to increase employability but also to step up awareness on health and social issues and to make people more receptive to better ways of tackling problems. Kerala has admirable socio-economic indicators. While much of its achievements can be attributed to progressive and people-friendly policies of its governments, its high literacy rate has provided it with a solid foundation on which to build achievements in other areas. Its literate women and men have played a major role in keeping down hunger, malnutrition, infant mortality, etc. The rest of India must draw lessons from Kerala.