India, which is expected to house the world’s largest working population of 869 million by 2020, requires to do a lot of homework for training and educating such a vast number of people, a report has suggested.
According to an analysis conducted by IndiaSpend in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP) covered 43.6 per cent of India’s school-age population between the ages of five and fourteen.
The analysis conducted was based on the factors like literacy, school enrollment, learning outcomes and education.
According to Census data, the country’s overall literacy rate has been improved by 8.66 points to 74.04 per cent between 2001 and 2011, but wide variations exist across the States.
According to Census 2011, approximately one third of India’s population (445.1 million) lives in the four States of Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, and UP. But the States have some of the lowest literacy rates in the country.
In 2011, Bihar had a literacy rate of 61.8 per cent, Rajasthan – 67.1 per cent, UP – 67.7 per cent and MP – 70.6 per cent that is lower than the all-India average of 74 per cent. Kerala has a literacy rate of 94 per cent, the highest in the country. School outcomes are also lower in the four states.
Most educated four States of the country — Kerala, Mizoram, Tripura and Goa — currently have only 2.5 per cent of India’s overall school-going children aged between five and 14. Whereas the four BIMARU states — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — have 43.6 per cent of India’s overall school going children.
