State flunks Saakshar Bharat test, figures among worst performers

Of the 7.63 cr non-literates granted functional literacy in 8 yrs, just 30,573 are from Punjab

CHANDIGARH: Blame it on the official apathy or poor governance, Punjab is among the worst-performing states in the country in imparting adult education under the centrally sponsored ‘Saakshar Bharat’ (Literate India) scheme.

Of the 7.63 crore non-literates granted functional literacy between August 2010 and March 2018, only 30,573, a minuscule .04%, are from the state, making it the second worst-performing state in the country after Sikkim having 17,685 successful learners.

Punjab was given the target of enrolling 8.70 lakh non-literates in Bathinda, Barnala, Mansa, Ferozepur, Sangrur and Muktsar districts under the programme started by the department of school education and literacy of the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry in 2009-10.

These seven selected districts were among the 400-odd districts having adult female literacy rate of 50% or below selected under Saakshar Bharat, a variant of the National Literacy Mission, to impart functional literacy and numeracy to illiterate adults, particularly women, and enable neo-literate adult to continue their learning beyond basic ability to read and write.

The adult female literacy rates in these districts ranged from 36% to 48% as against the state’s overall literacy rate of 75.84% — male (80.44%) and female (70.73%) — as per Census 2011 which covered those in the age group of 7 and above. While Punjab has been way short of the target set under the literacy project, adjoining states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh have fared far better with 7.81 lakh, 83.54 lakh and 68,328 learners successfully gaining functional literacy during this period, according to information shared by Union human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in Lok Sabha on Monday.

The failure of the state’s education department to meet its target is in stark contrast to the overall progress achieved under the Saakshar Bharat scheme.

Against the overall target of making 7 crore, 7.63 crore crore learners successfully passed the biannual basic literacy assessment tests conducted by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and were certified as literates during the eightyear period.

The Punjab government, which also implemented the National Literacy Mission earlier, had adult education centres with ‘sikhya preraks’ (volunteers) and district coordinators to teach adult learners and help them attain basic literacy. However, the project was derailed when the volunteers started an agitation in 2014-15 for payment of honorarium and regularisation of their services. The state authorities also failed to put it back on track. SCERT head and director, elementary education, Inderjit Singh said he had no information about how the other states fared. “We have been carrying out all the activities prescribed under the programme,” he added. Another official in DGSE said the department did not meet the target because the project could not be revived after the sikhya preraks’ stir.

“Our focus has been on programmes for imparting education to children in schools, but we are now also trying to make efforts to get those who were enrolled and learnt a few things to take the test before the upcoming census,” he said, requesting anonymity.

While the Saakshar Bharat programme culminated last year, a new adult education scheme, Padhna Likhna Abhiyan, is under consideration of the HRD ministry.