Chapter 1. Notion and Definition of Literacy and Illiteracy in India

1. Notion and Definition of Literacy and Illiteracy in India

As regards the notion and definition of literacy and illiteracy, there have been at least 3 different standpoints in India from three different agencies, viz., (i) Census Department; (ii) educationists and planners and administrators of formal education system; and (iii) those dealing with adult education/literacy.

The common perception about literacy is generally the Census definition, i.e., the ability to read and write in any language. Illiterates, according to Census, are those without this ability of reading and writing. This is the basis on which data about incidence of literacy is gathered by Census in respect of population above 7 years of age, and classified under two categories, viz., literates and illiterates.

The Census notion of literacy was perhaps derived from the understanding of educational planners and administrations and educationists. The notion of literacy among this group had been closely linked with level/grade/years of schooling. Viewing illiteracy (84% in 1951) as India’s since and shame, national leadership stressed rapid expansion of primary schooling as the sure and effective method and strategy to bring about universal literacy. The Education Commission (1964-66), treated as the most authoritative opinion about every aspect of education in India till date, made this notion and definition of literacy clear while dealing about adult education. To the Commission, the existence of 144 million adult illiterates in 15-44 age-group was proof of failure of “conventional methods of hastening literacy”, implying universal primary education, and the reason why a separate programme of adult literacy became crucial. The Commission felt that “In normal conditions, programmes of adult education presume universal literacy” and, had the “conventional methods” were effective, adult education would not have been needed for imparting the basic literacy skills. There was, thus, no ambiguity among educationists either about the notion and definition of literacy or the method of its acquisition, viz., schooling up to primary level. Adult education, in Education Commission’s view, had a different purpose (NCERT, 1971: 770).

Within adult education/literacy circles, the notion and definition of literacy included the basic literacy skills and a larger social agenda of improvement in the condition of illiterate adults (Saraf, 1980; Shah, 1989). Thrust on larger social agenda that was the major focus of adult education earlier was gradually brought on par with the focus on basic literacy skills and in fact, got pushed into a secondary level with the launching of National Literacy Mission (NLM). NLM was set up in 1988, besides other objectives, with the aim of imparting functional literacy to million adult illiterates by 1995. Although larger social objectives were part of “functional literacy” in NLM’s conception of literacy for adults (MHRD, 1988), the eradication of illiteracy among adults became the central focus in its nation-wide basic literacy programmes, known as Total Literacy Campaigns (TLCs). The level of proficiency in literacy and numeracy is what is assessed on clearly laid down norms. The other components of functionality relating to larger social agenda of improvement through literacy, nevertheless continue to be an integral part of literacy for adults, in NLM’s policy documents.

Although there are different standpoints about what is literacy among three different sets of actors, Census definition of literacy continues to be the officially accepted yardstick when it comes to counting literacy and illiteracy level in India.

1.1 Literacy: Measurement and Estimation in Census and Surveys

The basic source about the country’s population, the Census, conducted once in every 10 years, collects a lot of data on socio-economic, religious and other parameters of each family, habitation, village, district, State and country as a whole. The Census also collects data about literacy. In respect of literacy, the Census enumerator goes by the response given by any one in a family to the question “Are you literate” or “Can you read and write”. The enumerator merely elicits information and is not required to verify by personally checking/testing the claim (Rao, 2002). Data in respect of population, literates and illiterates are collected for age groups 7-9; 10-14; 15-19 and so on, and along gender, social groups such as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) and others and rural-urban lines (Prem Chand, 2004: 106-07). The data thus collected forms the basis of Census estimates about literacy position of the country.

The survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), quinquennially, is the major source of information about literacy rates in the country in between the Censuses. Taking Census definition of literacy, the Survey is conducted on a sample basis, in all States, covering both urban and rural areas. The one major difference of NSSO Survey in 1991 with Census estimation was the literacy test it administered on a smaller sample, to those above 15 years of age reporting to be literate, but not completed Grade V in primary education, in respect of reading, writing and numeracy abilities. As the Survey also collects data on different demographic features, it gives more insight into correlations with other parameters like their economic activity and status, social group, land holding, etc. (Rao, 2002).

1.2 Literacy Achievement Evaluation Approaches and Methods

Although completion of primary education has been viewed essential to acquire stable literacy level, the evaluation and testing system in school education has been fundamentally different and not comparable with the approach and methods adopted in achievement testing in respect of adult literacy. In respect of primary education, there is a well-defined system, evolved over a long period of time, of end of the year testing of levels of learning of prescribed competencies.

There is little authentic information about the system of assessing literacy proficiency in adult education/literacy programmes in India prior to National Adult Education Programme (NAEP) in 1978. Assessment of literacy under NAEP was different. Undertaken by well-known institutions of social science research, the evaluations encompassed not only assessment of literacy proficiency achieved but also other objectives like critical social awareness of both the causes of deprivation and its remedies. While these evaluations highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of NAEP – at least 56 of them were closely analyzed by the Education Department, there is no evidence of any common approach to assessment of literacy achievement being followed by these evaluations. Moreover, adult education programmes from the beginning, including even NAEP, never covered a whole district. Thus, there was no possibility of estimating their effect on the literacy rate or level of a district as a whole.

The literacy assessment under NLM has been vastly different. While NLM’s conception of adult literacy encompassed basic literacy skills, awareness, knowledge and skills to improve their condition, the evaluation has been confined mainly to assessing the proficiency achieved in basic literacy skills.

The NLM appointed Dave Committee (1992 [headed by Prof. R.H. Dave]), delineated the level of achievement in literacy skills in respect of the 3 R’s. These became the NLM norms about literacy achievement level of learners in TLCs (NLM, 1992). The purpose of specifying achievement norms in reading, writing and numeracy was to evolve an assessment system that could be uniform and comparable on literacy achievement across states. But given the scale of sample size of learners to be evaluated in each TLC, in some cases between 5000-10,000 learners, within 3-6 months, most evaluations covered only the writing and numeracy skills and not reading skills. Also, in respect of sample design and selection, serious deficiencies were noticed, raising doubts about the credibility and reliability of percentage of literacy achievement claimed/reported. The Expert Group appointed by NLM in 1993 endorsed the Dave Committee blue print for literacy assessment. However, the Expert Group made specific recommendations regarding the sampling design and size to ensure uniformity and comparability. These recommendations have since become part of NLM’s guidelines for evaluation of literacy achievement in a TLC.