Sir,
Any person who can read or write and can recognize numerals is considered literate. Literacy rate of a particular place is based on the time bound decinnial census which was conducted a few years back.
Is literacy parameter a sufficient index for measuring development of human resource is an important puzzle to unravel.
Merely being literate that too only reading and writing is not going to nourish the propensity of a person. What a person needs is his educational development, skill development, moral and spiritual development, that can prepare a person to face the intricate challenges of life. Present society demands skill development, professionalism, commitment, sincerity towards job and so many factors. There is a dire need of time to draw the line between literacy and education.
Unfortunately literacy rate has become an important tool in the hands of elite lobby which they have exploited to woo their committed groups. Raw figures of literacy rate are shown in various fora to highlight their achievements of opening schools and colleges and raising the standard of education.
What the society needs at the moment is a holistic approach towards education that can help enlighten the people with education pertaining to skill development, employment growth, pollution free environment, population control etc.
People should be enlightened in such a way that there should be no scope for narrow ideologies. Social media and other like minded agencies can play a pivotal role to bring real facts before the people.
Yours etc….
Ramesh K Raina
(Wanpoh) Jammu
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