One of the biggest problems India faces today is their rate of illiteracy. Illiteracy leads to several other problems for a nation such as poverty, unemployment, child labour, female foeticide, population burst etc. Literacy is a reasonably good indicator of development in a society. Studies conducted by the World Bank have established that there’s a direct link between literacy & the productivity as well the overall quality of human life.
There is a wide disparity between the social classes whereby the urban classes are more educated. Also, there’s a disparity between the male and female children wherein educating the male child is more of a priority that the girl who’s destined to be married & look after her home & children so it seems she can do without the education. It’s also easier to ‘mold’ an unaware girl.
This menace of illiteracy can bring even the most powerful nation down. It is our duty as responsible citizens of this world to eradicate illiteracy. By contributing to organizations like Teach India we can help bring about a change in the quality of life an individual lives. In addition, we must also consciously appreciate the education that is being provided to us. We should put this education to good use by giving back to our society, as best as we can.
In the words of the President of the United States, Barack Obama “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” So let’s go make a change!
Saniya Mittal
Couldn’t agree more. Illiteracy is indeed the mother of all problems!