• The states with relatively high literacy are- Kerala (94%), Assam (84%), Maharashtra (81%)#
• The states with relatively low literacy are- Bihar (58%), Rajasthan (62%), Andhra Pradesh (64%)#
• 66% of the country’s adult population (population of age 15 & above) was found to be literate#
• The literacy rate (i.e. percentage of literates) for all ages among rural female (RF), rural male (RM), urban female (UF) and urban male (UM) populations was found to be 51.1%, 68.4%, 71.6% and 82.2% respectively. The corresponding rates two decades ago as estimated in NSS 42nd round (1986-87) were 24.8%, 47.6%, 59.1% and 74.0% respectively#
• In rural India, the literacy rate was the lowest for persons belonging to ST households (42%) followed by persons belonging to SC households (47%)*
• The proportions of persons in each education level were lower for females than for males, showing gender disparity in education*
• Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have shown highest rise in literacy rates between 1993-94 and 1999-2000*
• Literacy rate among the group holding the lowest size class of land was 52% while it was 64% for the group holding the highest size class of land*
• 96.5% of children in the 6 to 14 age group in rural India is enrolled in school. While 71.1% of these children are enrolled in government schools, 24.3 % are enrolled in private schools.**
• 5.9% of girls in the 11-14 age group are still out of school. However, this percentage has gone down as compared to 6.8% in 2009**
• Enrollment in private schools in rural India increased from 21.8% in 2009 to 24.3% in 2010. This number has risen steadily since 2005 when it was 16.3% nationally**
• Only 53.4% children in Std V could read a Std II level text. On average, there has been a decrease in children’s ability to do simple mathematics. The proportion of Std I children who could recognize numbers from 1-9 declined from 69.3% in 2009 to 65.8% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of children in Std III who could solve two digit subtraction problems decreased from 39% to 36.5% in the same period**
• ASER 2010 found that over 60% of the 13,000 schools visited satisfied the infrastructure norms specified by the RTE. However, more than half of these schools will need more teachers. A third will need more classrooms. 62% of the schools visited had playgrounds, 50% had a boundary wall or fence and 90% had toilets**
# Education in India: 2007-08, Participation and Expenditure NSS 64th Round, (July 2007–June 2008)
* Literacy and Levels of Education in India 1999-2000 55th Round NSS July 1999- June 2000
** Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2010
