ONE IN Five adults can’t read and write in India, and two-thirds of them are women. Param Shakti Peeth has taken seriously this disparity and has taken up as unique experiment to teach girls and women who are underprivileged.
Recently, the Central government has remained the existing National Literacy Mission (NLM) as the National Mission for Female Literacy. The government has also set itself a target of making every woman literate in the next five years.
The over-all literacy figures stands at 65 percent. But the gender disparity within men and women is significant. According to the 2001 census, male literacy stands at 75 percent, while female literacy is at around 54 percent.
Dr. Sharda Jain / Dr. Lakshmi Devi both have remained great teachers for long time, feel committed to women education but say “It’s difficult for women, already trapped in poverty, to take out time for classes. It’s next to impossible to make all women literate in the next five years, at least through the present NLM design.”
One-third of the world’s illiterate population is in India (268 million). Under the NLM, the cost per learner works out to around Rs. 700 per person.
According to HRD ministry source the restricted budget will allow the mission to reach out to only 5.5 million people.
The NLM’s format would also have to be redesigned as it is out dated.
The NLM needs to shed its obsolete approach. Simple and Doable Technology needs to be adopted and courses have to be in line and fitting with the daily lives of women.
Dr. Lakshmi Devi |
