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India home to largest illiterate population: Report
India is home to the world’s largest population of illiterate adults, amounting to nearly 300 million people, a report says.
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According to the Education for All Global Monitoring Report released
by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), 37 percent of the world’s illiterate population lives in
India, Indo-Asian News Service reported on Wednesday..
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The “EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2013-14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for All” said that 10 countries accounted for 557 million or 72 percent of the global population of adults who could not read or write.
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This means India has an illiterate population of 287 million.
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India’s literacy rate was lower in previous years.
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“India’s literacy rate rose from 48 percent in 1991 to 63 percent in 2006, but population growth canceled the gains. So there was no change in the number of illiterate adults.”
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However, India’s director at UNESCO Shigeru Aoyagi said the country was still struggling to provide quality education for its people.
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“Though we have more than 99 percent children in schools because of the Right to Education Act, the quality of education being imparted is a big challenge that should be addressed,” he said.
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The report placed India among the 21 countries facing an “extensive” learning crisis.
