Total Literacy of Kerala

Total Literacy of Kerala

In 1969, Education Ministers from various countries met at Tehran to discuss eradication of illiteracy. Various measures were taken to achieve this goal. In 1987-February 23rd, a new movement called “Appeal” (Asia Pacific Programme of Education For All) was inaugurated in New Delhi, to tackle illiteracy and to provide basic education to all. The association declared that illiteracy is more dangerous in the Third World Countries.  Poverty, scarcity of food, lack of nutrition, ecological deterioration, inefficiency in child education and informal education of elder citizen, technological backwardness, inefficiency in utilizing national resources, increase in debt, human right violation, increase in terrorism, uneven increase in population etc were termed as the major reason for illiteracy. “Appeal” (Asia Pacific Programme of Education For All) stated that literacy has an important role in the fight against these backwardness. The convention also realized that formal education is not sufficient as the number of youths is increasing in an uneven manner in Asian Countries. Thus literacy movement aroused as a total remedy to all these problems.

 In Kerala the total literacy movement was first initiated at Ernakulam District and Kottayam Municipality in the late 80’s. On 4th of February 1990, the then Prime Minister Shri V P Singh declared Ernakulam as the first total literate district in India. State wide literacy survey was conducted on 8th of April 1990. 28.52 lakhs of people were found illiterate. With the help of voluntary oraganisations like Sastra Sahitya Parishath class were conducted to educate the illiterate and on 18th of April 1991, Kerala became the first total literate state in India.

As per a baseline study conducted by KSLMA in 4000 wards in the state, it was found that around 12 lakh people still remain illiterate in Kerala which has attained the status of a totally literate state in 1991. The fact that there are large number of people in the state who are not able to read and write is a matter of great concern. KSLMA has realised this fact and is giving utmost importance to eradication of residual illiteracy also. Literacy classes are now being conducted under almost all the CECs. The number of learners vary from place to place. The Assistant Preraks are in charge of  Literacy Classes. Preraks, Assistant Preraks, retired teachers, and other volunteers handle the classes.

A 'Literate' is any person who is able to read and write on his own and 'Literacy' is the ability to read and write or is the quality of being literate. Kerala with a literacy rate of 90.90%, stands first among other Indian states. Recognizing the need for a literate population and provision of elementary education as a crucial input for nation building, the state government with the backing of the central government, launched a number of plans and programmes over the past years to facilitate the provision of free and compulsory education with satisfactory quality to all children at least up to the age of 14 years. 'Akshara Keralam' Project introduced in the early 1990s was one such project initiated with the aim of bringing the the maximum number of illiterates to schools and other study centres. This project was implemented in different phases throughout the state. Apart from this, a number ofgovernment organizations and voluntary associations under various schemes and services, conduct classes ( mainly evening classes ) for the illiterate adults. Such classes are held throughout the rural and backward areas of the state where educational institutions were absent in the yesteryears or for those who were unable attain elementary education in their childhood or later. The literacy rate in the urban areas is slightly greater than in the rural areas. As per the norms of National Literacy Mission, a literacy rate above 90 % shall be treated as complete literacy. On this basis, Kerala was declared a, 'Fully Literate State', on April 18th, 1991.Kerala- Literacy Rate*   

Total	Rural	Urban
Persons                90.9	90.1	93.4
Males    94.2	93.5	96.1
Females               87.7	86.8	90.9

* As per census 2001

Like men, women in Kerala also hold a high literacy rate -87.7 %, which is higher than any other state in India. As a result women in Kerala enjoy a social status which is unattainable by the women folks in other parts of the country. Of the total working class (Main and Marginal) of Kerala, which is 32 % of the total population, 15.3 % are women.

The literacy rate of the three communities shows that Christians are more literate than Hindus and Muslims. The literacy percentage of these communities are: Hindus (male - 90.2 and female - 86.7 per cent), Muslims (male - 89.4 and female - 85.5 per cent) and Christians (male - 94.8 and female - 93.5 per cent).

Compared to other states in India, living standard of Keralites is high. Obviously, this is attributed to the high literacy rate and the educational standard of the people. Kerala, once home to many social evils is now absolutely relieved of them. Apart from providing general education, Govt. of Kerala has taken initiatives to provide computer education to all students. This programme is being implemented at all schools and colleges throughout the state.

Important Dates and Events in Kerala's Literacy Mission

·         June 1989 - Kottayam Municipal Town is the first Fully Literate municipal town in India

·         February 1990- Ernakulam District is the first Fully Literate district in India

·         1991 - Launch of 'Akshara Keralam' project

·         1991 - Kerala's Literacy rate reaches 93.64 %

·         1991, April 18 - Kerala declared a Fully Literate State.