who is a literate in India?

 

Literate 

Census 2001 in the instruction manual for filling up the household schedule has defined

 literacy (p.55) as `a person aged 7 and above who can both read and write with

 understanding in any language is to be taken as literate. A person, who can only read

but cannot write, is not literate. People who are blind and can read in Braille will be

 treated as literate.

UNESCO has defined literacy as follows:

(1) A literate person is the one who can with understanding both read and write a short simple statement relevant to his everyday life.

 

(2) Literacy is not the simple reading of word or a set of associated symbols and sounds, but an act of critical understanding of men’s situation in the world.

 

(3) Literacy is not an end in itself but a means of personal liberation and development and extending individuals educational efforts involving overall inter-disciplinary responses to concrete problems.

 

(4) A literate person is the one who has acquired all the essential knowledge and skills which

         enable him to engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning in his group and community and whose attaining in reading, writing and numeracy make it  possible to use these skills towards his own and his community’s development.

 

Adult literacy rate

 Adult literacy rate is defined as the percentage of population aged 15 years and over who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on his/her everyday life. Adult illiteracy is defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on his/her everyday life.

Purpose: Adult literacy rate shows the accumulated achievement of primary education and literacy programmes in imparting basic literacy skills to the population, thereby enabling them to apply such skills in daily life and to continue learning and communicating using the written word. Literacy represents a potential for further intellectual growth and contribution to economic-socio-cultural development of society. Illiteracy rates indicate the extent of need for policies and efforts in organizing adult literacy programmes and quality primary education.

Calculation method: Divide the number of literates by the corresponding age-group population and multiply the result by 100. Alternatively, apply the same method using the number of illiterates to derive the illiteracy rate ; or by subtracting literacy rate from 100%.