Adult Literacy: Reviewing the ‘Saakshar Bharat’ programme
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 18, 2019
India made considerable progress in ‘Adult Literacy’ in the last few decades. However, as per the 2011 Census, close to 24 crore adults are yet to attain literacy. The Government’s ‘Saakshar Bharat’ programme, a revised version of NLM launched in 2009, is aimed at increasing adult literacy. Here is a review of the programme.
According to Census 2011, only 69.3% of the adults above the age of 15 years in India are literate. In other words, 30.7% of them or close to 24 crore adults are illiterate as a result of numerous social and economic factors persistent in the country. The government of India upon realising the need to educate the adults introduced the National Literacy Mission (NLM) in 1988, aimed at imparting functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 15 to 35 years. The scheme was later revamped to address its shortcomings and meet the changing demands. Saakshar Bharat Programme, modified version of NLM, was launched more than a decade ago with the objective of reaching 80% literacy level by providing an opportunity to those aged 15 years & beyond and those who are non-literate and non-numerate. In this story, we look at the programme in detail and the related data.
24 Crore adults in India are not literate as per
census 2011
As per the Census2011, India’s literacy rate stood at 74% with male literacy at 82.1% and femaleliteracy at 65.5%. However, in the case of adults aged 15 and above, theliteracy rate among men is 78.8% and that among women is 59.3%. As is evidentfrom the chart, the literacy rates of adults (both men and women) has beenincreasing with every census. Despite the progress made, about 24 crore adultsare not literate in India as per the Census 2011.
The gender gap interms of adult literacy is observed to be decreasing with time. However, thedisparity in adult literacy is stark between Urban & Rural areas.  Literacy rate of urban adults is 82.8% andthat of rural adults is 62.6%. It is also observed that gender disparity in theurban areas is lesser than that in the rural backdrop.
Saakshar Bharat was launched in 2009 to improve the
literacy rate among Adults
On InternationalLiteracy Day which falls on 08 September every year, the then Prime MinisterDr. Manmohan Singh launched the Saakshar Bharat Programme in 2009 during the 11th five year plan. The centrally sponsoredscheme is implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL)of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). The nodal agency of thescheme at the national level is the National Literacy Mission Authority.
Unlike the previous scheme, Saakshar Bharat offered
opportunities for people to continue with their education
The objectives ofthe scheme, similar to the erstwhile NLM, include imparting functional reading,writing and mathematical skills which are required in the day to day life, tothose adults who are devoid of any formal education in their childhood due to amultitude of reasons.  In addition,Saakshar Bharat also gives them an opportunity to continue their education andoffers skill development programs. To minimise the gender gap, social gap aswell as inter and intra state disparities in literacy levels, prominence hasbeen given to females, people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribesand other minorities, especially in the rural backdrop.
7.62 crore adults across 410 districts have been
educated under the scheme
Saakshar
Bharat was implemented from October 2009 indistricts with female literacy rate 50% and below based on Census 2001 data. Leftwing extremism affected districts were also included in the programmeirrespective of the literacy rate. The programme had a target to impart basiceducation to at least 7 crore adults including 1.4 crore people belonging to ‘ScheduledCaste’ category and 80 lakh people belonging to ‘Scheduled Tribe’ category.
According to numberspresented by MHRD in the Lok
Sabha earlier this year, 7.64 crore adultswere certified as literates between August 2010 and March 2018. Of this, UttarPradesh and Bihar together constitute 36%. The programme covered 410 districtsacross 26 states in the country. Kerala, Goa and Mizoram are the three excludedstates. Female literacy rates in these three states are the highest in the country as per Census 2011. Considering the census 2011 numbers and thecoverage of the scheme, around 16 crore adults would still lack literacy.
Adult Education Centres have been set up in Gram Panchayats
Adult EducationCentres (AEC) or Lok Shiksha Kendras were set up to implement the programme atthe grass root level. In each gram panchayat with a minimum population of 5000,at least one AEC has been established and is led by two paid coordinatorscalled ‘Preraks’. Preference to the post of ‘Prerak’ was to be given to womenand marginal groups. In urban areas, the programme is implemented through JanShikshan Sansthans, NGOs, State Resource Centres and other institutions whichhave been identified by NLM Authority.
Under the scheme, there are four different programmes with
specific objectives
FunctionalLiteracy Programme, Basic Education Programme, Vocational Education andContinuing Education Programme are the programmes offered by the government tomeet the objectives of Saakshar
Bharat.
Bi-annual examinations are conducted to assess those
who are engaged in the programme
To assess thecompetency of those engaged in the programme, based on the rules and guidelinesput forth by the National Institute for Open Schooling, Basic Literacy Assessmentsare conducted twice in a year based on the results of which certification of literatestakes place.
Funds for the programme dry up in 2018-19 since
operation period of the program has ended
The centralgovernment has released over Rs. 2,500 crore for the programme since 2010 out of the total approved grant amount of Rs. 6000 crore as revealedby Lok
Sabha answers. From Rs. 456 crore in2011-12, the last financial year (2018-19) saw an expenditure of Rs. 44.52crores for the programme. The scheme was originally planned to be operational up to 31 March 2012 (12 five year planning period). It was later extended up to 31 March 2018. Many lost
their jobs which led to protestswhen the program came to an end in 2018. There have been reports that a new
scheme ‘Padhna Likhna Abhiyan’ will berolled out replacing Saakshar Bharat. Whether Saakshar Bharat bore fruits ornot, will be revealed in the upcoming 2021 census results.
Literacy empowers people along with other positive
social and economic impact
Not only doesliteracy empower people, it also helps eradicate poverty by impacting theirwell-being, informed decision making and employability. Investing in adulteducation will also benefit the future generations. Literacy helps bolster theresults of other social development schemes and initiatives. One of the targetsof the United Nations’ Sustainable
Development Goal 4 on Quality Education isto eliminate the gender gap in literacy by 2030. Ensuring education isaccessible by all is also a part of this goal.
Samagra Siksha is an integrated scheme introduced last
year
Since
2018-19, the Department of School Educationand Literacy introduced Samagra Shiksha which is an amalgamation of theerstwhile schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik ShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). Samagra Shiksha is also a centrallysponsored scheme which covers all classes from pre-school to class 12 under onehead. Through this scheme, the government aims to ensure inclusive andequitable education for all children including transgender and minorities.