are very concerned about the iliteracy still prevalent among India women in the 21st century write an article
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Current literature is less clear about the correlation between household income and female education. One study of urban literacy and gender disparity across India,[6] finds that “neither in terms of absolute levels of literacy nor distributive justice, i.e., reduction in gender and caste disparities, does per capita income have any statistically significant positive bearing upon literacy status of states.” Similarly, another study observes that the importance of poverty as a cause of persistent illiteracy and widening gender gap has been inflated.[7] Meanwhile, the World Bank highlights that the gender gap is affected more by social and cultural factors and less by absolute poverty.[8] It recommends demand-linked measures to address the gender gap, such as awareness campaigns, childcare centres, and the hiring of more female teachers. Similar policy prescriptions are echoed by the Draft National Education Policy 2019 which recommends setting up a Gender-Inclusion Fund to build the nation’s capacity to provide quality and equitable education for all girls.[9]
Most official reports focus on studying the adult literacy rate which measures literacy among individuals aged 15 years and above. However, a focus on just adult literacy is likely to underestimate the progress India has made in improving its literacy outcomes. The adult literacy rate for both males and females increases at a relatively sluggish rate since most of the progress in literacy occurs through improvement in child and youth literacy.[10] Therefore it is important to study the gender gap in literacy for different age cohorts to get a clear understanding of the literacy landscape in the country and identify the key challenges constraining a convergence between male and female literacy. It is the primary aim of this brief.
Data shows that the gender gaps in education, occupation and wages have shrunk sharply between 1983 and 2010 in most indicators; the gaps have narrowed most sharply for the youngest cohorts in the workforce.[11] However, these data are aggregate India-wide; given the variation in policies and outcomes across states, it would be worthwhile to analyse disaggregated data to better identify the causal channels at work.[12] This brief examines the gender gap in literacy in both national and state levels. It uses National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data from rounds 43, 50, 55 and 64 of the Employment and Unemployment Survey, round 71 of the Social Consumption (Education) Survey and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (2017-18).
Gender gap in literacy
Overall gender gap in literacy
About three decades ago, the adult male literacy rate in India was almost twice that for adult females. While this gap has narrowed substantially over the years, adult male literacy rate still surpasses the adult female literacy rate by 17 percentage points. (See Figure 1 and Table 1.)
Figure 1: Trends in male and female literacy
Source: National Sample Survey @ Observer Research Foundation’s India Data Labs
1987-88 1993-94 1999-00 2007-08 2014 2017-18
Male Literacy Rate 60.5 65.5 69.2 76.6 80.3 81.5
Female Literacy Rate 31.7 37.9 43.8 54.9 61.8 64.6
Gap 28.8 27.6 25.4 21.7 18.5 16.9
Source: National Sample Survey @ Observer Research Foundation’s India Data Labs
To put these numbers in perspective, the current gender-gap in literacy in India is more than twice the 2016 global average and is also higher than the 2016 average for lower-middle-income countries.[13] There are currently 186 million females in India who cannot even read and write a simple sentence in any language.[14] These numbers are a reminder that India is still a long way from meeting Goal 4 of the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of ensuring “inclusive and equitable quality education” and “lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.[15]