International Literacy Day: 6 interesting facts from India that will leave you feeling happy

India was a broken, underdeveloped, and backward nation when the British left it breaking it into two halves. However, more than 7 decades later, the country has emerged as one of the most empowering countries in the world and literacy has played a major role in it.

On International Literacy Day today know about some interesting facts regarding the literacy rate and achievements of India.

Average literacy rate then and now

The 2011 census says that any person who can read and write is considered literate. In that context, India has a literacy rate of around 74%. Kerala has the highest literacy rate of around 94% whereas Bihar has the lowest literacy rate of nearly 63%. Interestingly, when the British left India, the country had a literacy rate of only 12%.

Top 5 and lowest states

According to the census conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Tripura, and Goa are the top 5 states/UT with the highest literacy rates. Similarly, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh are the 5 states with the lowest literacy rate.

Largest literate population in the world

India is home to the largest literate population in the world with 287 million literate adults which amounts to around 37% of the global literacy rate.

Female literacy has also increased

Since even now in many parts of India, females are not allowed to study or go out many girls in India do not have access to education. Even then around 70% of females in India are literate with Kerala having the highest number of literate women and Rajasthan recording the lowest number of literate women.

Mid-day meal schemes

Poor people cannot afford to feed their children and hence they never think about educating them. Taking this into consideration, the mid-day meal scheme was started by the Indian government in state and central government-aided schools so that the parents are encouraged to send their children to school thinking that at least they will get food to eat. And it has worked wonders in improving the literacy rate in the country.

Awareness campaigns and scholarship schemes

The Indian government has from time to time organised awareness campaigns to educate people about the importance of studies and wherever necessary have also introduced scholarship schemes so that students do not leave their studies halfway due to lack of money.