Gjuarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel is in the process to chalk out specific plan to improve literacy rate in order to put the State in the top league of States having higher literacy rate of over 85 per cent by the end of year 2021.
As per 2011 census, Kerala ranks first in literacy rate with 93.9 per cent followed by lakshadweep and Mizoram with 92.3 and 91.6 respectively. Some of the other States and Union Territories like Tripura, Goa, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, NCR of Delhi and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands have attained literacy rate of almost 85 per cent. Gujarat is lagging behind at 16th rank with 79.3 per cent literacy rate.
“In most of the sector, ranging from foreign investment, industry, infrastructure and others Gujarat ranks in top five States, but somehow it is way behind in education sector. Though Gujarat’s literacy rate is more than national average, which is 74.04 per cent, it is not even amongst the top ten States,” said a senior official with the State Education Department.
In a meeting of her senior Cabinet colleagues, top bureaucrats, collectors and police officers, Gujarat’s first woman Chief Minister, who started her career as a teacher went on to become school principal before she jumped into politics, said that she wants her State to compete with Kerala in education sector.
Apart from on-going school enrollment drive, the State Education Department will kick-start survey on illiteracy in people between the age of 15 and 35 during July 15 to 31 and then work would taken on war footing to make them literate.
Some of the other steps the Gujarat CM is envisaging are, tracking all children right from pre-school up to class eight, English classes included in 8,500 schools, internet connectivity in 6,000 schools, in the current financial year 500 new schools will be started. Special attention would also be paid to improve literacy rate among women.