LITERACY RATES FOR INDIA
In India, excluding Assam and Jammu & Kashmir, population aged 7 and over grew by 25.0 per cent between 1981 and 1991 as shown in Table 1 and Figure 1. The literate population grew almost twice as fast during the same period, by 49.4 per cent. Although the literacy rate for population aged 7 and over increased from 43.7 per cent to 52.2 per cent, as shown in Figure 2, general
Table 1: Population by literacy status (in millions) and literacy
rates by sex, 1981 and 1991, INDIA*
Population, sex and 1981 1991 per cent growth
literacy status 1981-91
1 2 3 4
Total population
Persons 659.3 816.2 23.8
Males 340.8 423.6 24.3
Females 318.5 392.6 23.3
Population aged 7+
Persons
Total 536.2 670.1 25.0
Literates 234.1 349.7 49.4
Illiterates 302.1 320.4 6.1
Males
Total 278.0 348.5 25.3
Literates 157.0 223.7 42.4
Illiterates 121.0 124.8 3.1
Females
Total 258.23 21.62 4.6
Literates 77.1 126.0 63.6
Illiterates 181.1 195.6 8.0
Literacy rate (%)
Persons 43.7 52.2
Males 56.5 64.2
Females 29.9 39.2
*Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note: Per cent growth and literacy rates were calculated from more detailed population figures than shown in the table.
6 Literacy Rates for India
Literacy Rates for India 7
population growth was rapid enough that the illiterate population still increased by 6.1 per cent. The 1991 Census marks the first census in which literates outnumbered illiterates in the relevant age range.
These figures for both sexes combined conceal substantial differences by sex. The number of male literates grew by 66.7 mil- lion, an increase of 42.4 per cent, whereas the number of female literates grew by 49.0 million, an increase of 63.6 per cent. The reason why the absolute number of literates increased more for males but the percentage literate increased more for females is that female literates started out from a smaller base. Despite the increases in percentage literate, the number of male illiterates increased by 3.8 million, or 3.1 per cent, for males and 14.5 million, or 8.0 per cent, for females. The literacy rate increased by 7.7 percentage points, from 56.5 to 64.2 per cent, for males, and by 9.3 percentage points, from 29.9 to 39.2 per cent, for females.
Because of rural-urban migration and reclassification of many rural areas to urban, urban population grew almost twice as fast as rural population between 1981 and 1991. As shown in Table 2, population aged 7 and over grew by 20.7 per cent for rural and 38.5 per cent for urban. By 1991, the population aged 7 and over was 26.9 per cent urban. The number of literates grew by 49.0 per cent in rural areas and 50.1 per cent in urban areas, but because of the larger rural population base, the absolute increase in the number of literates was about 1.6 times greater in rural than in urban areas. The number of illiterates increased by 12.2 million, or 4.6 per cent, in rural areas and by 6.1 million, or 14.5 per cent, in urban areas. Again, the contrasting picture presented by absolute increases and percentage increases is due to the large difference in the base populations.
For males the literate population increased by a higher per- centage in urban areas than in rural areas (44.3 per cent compared with 41.5 per cent), whereas for females the literate population in- creased by a lower percentage in urban areas than in rural areas (59.2 per cent compared with 67.1 per cent). The illiterate population increased by 1.7 per cent in rural areas and 11.9 per cent in urban areas for males, and 6.6 per cent in rural areas and 16.1 per cent in urban areas for females. The large increase in the number of illiterates in urban areas probably occurred because of sub-
8 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
Table 2: Population aged 7 and over (in millions) by rural-urban
residence, sex and literacy status, 1981 and 1991, INDIA'
Population, sex and 1981 1991 per cent growth
literacy status 1981-91
1 2 3 4
Rural
Persons 406.2 490.1 20.7
Literates 146.6 218.3 49.0
Illiterates 259.6 271.8 4.6
Males 208.3 253.1 21.5
Literates 103.5 146.4 41.5
Illiterates 104.8 106.7 1.7
Females 197.9 237.0 19.8
Literates 43.1 71.9 67.1
Illiterates 154.8 165.1 6.6
Urban
Persons 130.0 180.0 38.5
Literates 87.5 131.4 50.1
Illiterates 42.5 48.6 14.5
Males 69.7 95.4 36.8
Literates 53.5 77.3 44.3
Illiterates 16.2 18.1 11.9
Females 60.3 84.6 40.4
Literates 34.0 54.1 59.2
Illiterates 26.3 30.5 16.1
* Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note: Per cent growth was calculated from more detailed population figures than shown in the table.
stantial intercensal rural-urban migration and because migrants had much lower literacy-rates than the resident urban population.
Literacy rates are much higher in urban than in rural areas, as shown in Table 3. In rural and urban areas, respectively, these rates were 36.1 and 67.3 per cent in 1981 and 44.5 and 73.0 per cent in 1991. In rural areas the percentage point increase in literacy rates was about the same for males and females, while in ur-
Literacy Rates for India 9
Table 3: Literacy rates for population aged 7 and over by rural-urban
residence and sex, 1981 and 1991, INDIA*
Residence 1981 1991 Increase
and sex (percentage points)
1 2 3 4
Total
Persons 43.75 2.2 8.5
Males 56.56 4.2 7.7
Females 29.93 9.2 9.3
Rural
Persons 36.14 4.5 8.4
Males 49.75 7.8 8.1
Females 21.83 0.4 8.6
Urban
Persons 67.37 3.0 5.7
Males 76.88 1.0 4.2
Females 56.46 3.9 7.5
* Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note: Literacy rates are measured as simple percentages. Rates were calculated from more detailed Population figures than shown in the table.
ban areas the increase was considerably higher for females than for males. The male-female difference in literacy rates is considerably lower in urban areas than in rural areas in both 1981 and 1991.
Table 4 shows these male-female differences by residence in more detail. In rural areas, the male-female difference in literacy rates hardly changed between 1981 and 1991. In urban areas, however, this difference declined from 20.4 to 17.1 percentage points. A somewhat different picture emerges if one looks at female/male ratios of literacy rates instead of male-female differences between rates. The female/male ratios uniformly increased, from 43.9 to 52.6 per cent for rural, and from 73.4 to 78.9 per cent for urban. The general conclusion from this table is that female literacy rates are gradually catching up with male literacy rates.
Whereas Table 4 presented male-female differentials in literacy rates by rural-urban residence, Table 5 presents rural-urban differentials in literacy rates by sex. For males, the urban-rural
10 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
difference in literacy rates declined sharply from 27.1 to 23.2 per- centage points between 1981 and 1991, while for females it declined only slightly from 34.6 to 33.5 percentage points. One can also look at rural/urban ratios of literacy rates, as in the second panel of Table 5. The rural/urban ratio increased from 64.7 to 71.4 per cent for males and from 38.7 to 47.6 for females. The percentage point increase in this ratio is somewhat greater for females than for males. The general conclusion from this table is that urban-rural differentials in literacy rates are gradually declining.
Table 4: Male-female differentials in literacy rates by rural-urban
residence, 1981 and 1991, INDIA'
Differential Residence 1981 1991
1 2 3 4
Male-female difference Total 26.6 25.0
in literacy rates Rural 27.9 27.4
(percentage points) Urban 20.4 17.1
Female literacy rate Total 52.9 61.1
as per cent of male Rural 43.9 52.6
literacy rate Urban 73.4 78.9
* Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note: Differentials were computed from rates given in Table 3.
Table 5: Rural-Urban differentials in literacy rates by sex, 1981-
1991, INDIA'
Differential Residence 1981 1991
1 2 3 4
Urban-rural difference Persons 31.2 28.5
in literacy rates Males 27.1 23.2
(percentage points) Females 34.6 33.5
Rural literacy rate Persons 53.6 61.0
as per cent of urban Males 64.7 71.4
literacy rate Females 38.7 47.6
Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note: Differentials were computed from rates given in Table 3.
Literacy Rates for India 11
It is also of interest to examine literacy rates for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. Articles 341 and 342 of India's Constitution lay down guidelines for identifying castes and tribes at the lowest rung of the social and economic ladder which are in need of special attention for improving the lot. The first lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were subsequently issued under Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950. These lists have been amended or supplemented from time to time and have grown larger over the years. The trends in literacy rates for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are important indicators of social uplift. Literacy data for these groups are presented here only for 1981, since comparable data from the 1991 Census are not yet available.
The distribution of India's population aged 7 and over by Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (the remainder of the population) is shown in Table 6 and Figure 3. In 1981, India's population aged 7 and over was 15.4 per cent Scheduled Castes, 7.7 per cent
Table 6: Distribution of literate and illiterate population aged 7 and
over among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Non-Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes by sex, 1981, INDIA'
Sex and Total Scheduled Scheduled- Non
literacy status aged 7 and over Castes Tribes SCs/STs
1 2 3 4 5
Persons
Total 100.0 (536.2) 15.4 7.7 76.9
Literates 100.0 (234.1) 9.1 3.5 87.4
Illiterates 100.0 (302.1) 20.2 11.0 68.8
Males
Total 100.0 (278.0) 15.4 7.5 77.1
Literates 100.0 (157.0) 10.3 4.0 85.7
Illiterates 100.0 (121.0) 22.1 12.1 65.8
Females
Total 100.0 (258.2) 15.4 7.9 76.7
Literates 100.0 (77.1) 6.7 2.5 90.8
Illiterates 100.0 (181.1) 19.0 10.2 70.8
* Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note : Numbers in parentheses are population in millions.
12 Literacy Trends in the 1980 in India
Literacy Rates for India 13
Scheduled Tribes and 76.9 per cent Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. But Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were un- derrepresented among literates and overrepresented among illiterates. The table shows that the literate population was 9.1 per cent Scheduled Caste, 3.5 per cent Scheduled Tribe and 87.4 per cent Non- Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe.
Table 6 and Figure 3 also break down the distributions by sex. The figures for males are rather similar to those for the total population as just described. The figures for females, however, in- dicate that Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were severely underrepresented among female literates in 1981. Female literates were 6.7 per cent Scheduled Caste, 2.5 per cent Scheduled Tribe and 90.8 per cent Non-Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe. Comparable figures for total females were 15.3, 7.9 and 76.7 per cent.
The comparatively low literacy levels of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are measured more directly by their literacy rates, shown in Table 7. For the population not broken down by sex or residence, these rates were 25.8 per cent for Scheduled
Table 7. Literacy rates for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Non-
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe population aged 7 and over by rural-
urban residence and sex, 1981, INDIA*
Population Residence Persons Males Females
(aged 7 and over)
1 2 3 4 5
Scheduled Castes Total 25.8 37.7 13.0
Rural 22.3 33.9 10.0
Urban 43.8 56.7 29.0
Scheduled Tribes Total 19.8 29.8 9.6
Rural 18.1 27.9 8.2
Urban 45.3 56.6 32.6
Non-SCs/STs Total 49.6 62.9 35.3
Rural 41.6 56.2 26.3
Urban 70.6 79.6 60.1
Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note: Computed from data in Appendix Tables 3-5.
14 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
Castes, 19.8 per cent for Scheduled Tribes and 49.6 per cent for Non- Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. Comparable figures for males were 37.7, 29.8 and 62.9 per cent, and comparable figures for females were 13.0, 9.6 and 35.3 per cent. For males, literacy rates for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were about half as high as rates for Non- Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, with the rates for Scheduled Tribes somewhat lower than those for Scheduled Castes. For females, the disparities were even greater; for example, the literacy rate for Scheduled Tribes was less than a third of the rate for Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.
Table 7 shows further detail by rural-urban residence. The literacy rates for urban tended to be substantially higher than for rural, and this was true for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as for Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. The rural-urban differences were especially large for females; for Scheduled Tribes, the female literacy rate for urban was almost four times higher than the rate for rural.
It is also of considerable interest to investigate literacy by households, as opposed to individuals. The 1981 Census is the first census for which such data have been tabulated. Table 8 shows the percentage of households with no literate member for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, by household size and rural-urban residence. The percentage of households that were totally illiterate (no member of the household could read and write) was 32.9 for the whole country, 38.4 for rural and 15.6 for urban. Comparable percentages were 49.6, 52.9 and 31.5 for Scheduled Castes, 58.7, 60.3 and 36.8 for Scheduled Tribes, and 26.5, 31.7 and 13.1 for NonScheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. More than half of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households were totally illiterate, the situation being somewhat worse in the case of Scheduled Tribes.
Table 8 and Figure 4 further break down the findings by household size. The larger the household size, the lower the percentage of households that were totally illiterate. Looked at another way, the larger the household, the larger the probability that at least one person in the household was literate. It is noteworthy that even in households with 6 or more members, the percentage with no literate members was 22.4 for the whole country, 35.9 for Scheduled Castes, 46.7 for Scheduled Tribes and 17.4 for Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.
Literacy Rates for India 15
Table 8: Percentage of households with no literate member
among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes by household
size and rural-urban residence, 1981, INDIA'
Residence Number of Total Scheduled Scheduled Non-
household Castes Tribes SCs/STs
members
1 2 3 4 5 6
Total Total 32.9 49.6 58.7 26.5
1 62.8 83.4 80.9 57.6
2 53.3 73.3 78.7 45.3
3 42.5 60.4 69.9 34.4
4 36.4 54.1 64.3 28.7
5 31.2 47.5 58.3 24.4
6+ 22.4 35.9 46.7 17.4
Rural Total 38.4 52.9 60.3 31.7
1 72.1 87.3 84.1 67.4
2 61.7 76.7 80.7 54.2
3 50.0 63.7 71.7 42.0
4 43.3 57.4 65.9 35.6
5 37.3 50.9 59.9 30.2
6+ 26.4 39.2 48.2 20.9
Urban Total 15.6 31.5 36.8 13.1
1 41.1 66.2 57.6 38.1
2 28.9 55.0 56.3 24.7
3 19.9 41.5 46.1 16.3
4 15.2 35.0 40.3 12.1
5 12.0 28.0 33.2 9.5
6+ 9.0 19.1 22.7 7.5
Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Note: Computed from data contained in Appendix Table 6.
The above discussion of literacy rates can be complemented by an examination of enrolment ratios for primary school 'Classes I-V'. The enrolment ratios are obtained not from the Census but from data collected and published annually by the Department of Education of the Government of India. In Table 9 we present enrolment ratios for 1980- 81 and 1990-91.
A striking feature of Table 9 is that many of the enrolment ratios for boys exceed 100 per cent, which on the face of it seems impossible. To understand the source of this oddity, one must ex-
16 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
Literacy Rates for India 17
cause children enrolled at the start of the year may drop out during the year.
Between 1980-81 and 1990-91 for the country as a whole, the enrolment ratio, as defined above, increased from 83.1 to 101.0 per cent. It increased from 99.0 to 115.3 per cent for boys, and from 66.2 to 86.0 per cent for girls. The trends for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were even more dramatic. The enrolment ratio increased from 82.2 to 102.2 per cent for Scheduled Castes, and from 70.0 to 103.3 per cent for Scheduled Tribes. For boys the enrolment ratio in 1990-91 reached 126.8 for Scheduled Tribes and 122.7 for Scheduled Castes. It reached only 112.6 for NonScheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. Unfortunately, these results are somewhat misleading and difficult to interpret, because of the lack of adjustment for dropouts and because the age range of the numerator of the enrolment ratios differs from the age range of the denominator to an unknown extent. Dropout rates (calculated as the proportion of enrolled students at the start of Class I who are still enrolled at the start of Class V four years later) are on the order of 50 per cent (Department of Women and Child Development, 1992). Nevertheless, the results in Table 9 do suggest that substantial improvements in enrolment ratios occurred between
Table 9: Enrolment ratios for population aged 6-11 years in Classes
I-V among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Non-
Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes by sex, 1980-81 and 1990-
91, INDIA*
Segment of Year Both sexes Boys Girl,
population
1 2 3 4 5
Total 1980-81 83.1 99.0 66.2
1990-91 101.0 115.3 86.0
Scheduled Castes 1980-81 82.2 105.4 57.8
1990-91 102.2 122.7 80.6
Scheduled Tribes 1980-81 70.0 94.2 45.9
1990-91 103.3 126.8 78.6
Non-SCs/STs 1980-81 84.5 98.2 69.9
1990-91 100.5 112.6 87.8
Includes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
18 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
1980-81 and 1990-91, and that these improvements were apparently larger for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes than for Non- Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.
Other evidence of government effort is shown in Table 10, which shows annual government expenditures for education. Between 1980-81 and 1989-90, budgeted expenditure (revenue account) on education, measured in constant rupees, increased by 78.1 per cent. Per capita (not per student) expenditure on education, again in constant rupees, increased by 48.9 per cent, from 49.5 to 73.7 rupees. Despite the increases in these measures, and because total government expenditures increased faster than expenditures on education, the percentage of total government expenditure devoted to education declined from 24.5 to 19.9 per cent.
Table 10: Budgeted expenditure (revenue account) on education, 1980-81
and 1989-90, INDIA*
Expenditure 1980-81 1989-90 1989-90 Adjusted
adjusted 1989-90
for expenditure
inflation as per cent
of 1980-81
1 2 3 4 5
Budgeted expenditure
(millions of Rupees)
Total 34,144.8 120,419.8 60,818.1 178.1
Plan 3,850.3 14,933.6 7,542.2 195.9
Non-Plan 30,294.5 105,486.2 53,275.9 175.9
Per capita budgeted 49.5 146.0 73.7 148.9
expenditure (Rupees)
Budgeted expenditure
on education as per
cent of total budgeted
expenditure (revenue
account) 24.5 19.9
*Includes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
One expects that increased Government resources devoted to education should have resulted in accelerated improvements in literacy rates in recent years. We shall return to an empirical examination of this question in the penultimate section of this study.