Jammu and Kashmir’s female literacy rate lower than all-India level

While literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir has seen an upward trend in recent years to be 77.30%, female literacy rate is just 68% which is also lower than all-India level of 70.30%.

At all-India level, the male literacy rate is also higher at 84.70% compared to 70.30% among women.

In Jammu and Kashmir, though much emphasis is being laid on the gender equality in terms of education, discrimination in access to education still exists. There is a rural and urban divide in access to education for women as well.

According to a new survey of the National Statistical Office (NSO), male literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir is 85.70%, which is much higher than the female literacy rate of 68%. The survey reveals that in rural areas, the female literacy rate is lower than urban areas. The urban female literacy rate is 75.70% and literacy rate of women in rural areas is 66%.

The survey reveals only 8.4% and 2.8% of males and females in Jammu and Kashmir, respectively are graduates and above in rural areas. According to the survey, in rural areas of the state, 86.5% of schools having primary-level classes are at a distance of less than one km from the households, while 76.2% of primary/middle-level schools and 29.5% of secondary-level schools are at a distance of less than one km from the household.

According to the 2011 census, the literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir was 67.16%. The male literacy then was 76.75%, while female literacy was at 56.43%.

Literacy rate is defined as the percentage of literate persons among persons of age seven years and above. A person who can read and write a simple message in any language with understanding is considered literate in NSS surveys.