Govt forms 'core group' to review poor literacy record

GANDHINAGAR: The Gujarat government has decided to review the state''s literacy scene that has now been officially recognised as one of the poorest in the country.
A government resolution (GR), which was put out this week expressed concern over the drop in Gujarat''s literacy level vis-a-vis other states, announced the setting up of a "core group" headed by top Unesco consultant Ravindra Dave to find out the reasons.
The GR, issued on the instruction of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, regrets the "backwardness" in the sphere of literacy.
It says that if Gujarat was ranked 14th among major Indian states in the last decade, it has now slipped to the 15th position. "It particularly expresses concern that the state is poor in literacy rate compared to states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and even Madhya Pradesh," said an official while revealing its content.
Modi recently told officials at the Kevadia conclave that it is "shameful" that Gujarat is 15th among major states in the overall literacy rate and asked the state administration to have a "thorough re-look into the scene".
Dave, a Gujarati based in Hamburg and regarded as the architect of minimum level of learning (MLL) in India, was asked to head the core group and submit a preliminary report to the chief minister by July-end.
Other members of the core group are Gujarat Vidyapeeth adult literacy research wing head Laxman Avaiah, academic Gokul Parikh, primary education director R K Chaudhary, adult education director I M Patel, Gujarat Council for Educational Research & Training (GCERT) director Nalin Pandit and District Primary Education Programme director Mina Bhatt.
Dave is expected to be present along with senior officials of National Council for Educational Research & Training (NCERT) at the first meeting of the group to be held on July 16.
"The officials from Delhi will look into both secondary education and literacy issues," the bureaucrat revealed. While advising on literacy, there may be plans to change the state''s textbooks along NCERT line. Gujarat''s textbooks are among the worst in India, with factual mistakes seen on almost every page.
Significantly, the state lost focus on the literacy drive after the BJP came to power in 1998. This happened after several of the state''s districts were declared cent per cent literate.
Bhavnagar district''s literacy performance was widely publicised as one of the best in India. Entry points of several villages had displays declaring them "cent per cent literate". As a result, the adult education programme was virtually withdrawn.
A state-sponsored report submitted by the Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR) saying that the claim of "cent per cent literacy was bogus" was ignored.
A Sardar Patel Institute of Social & Economic Research academic was instead asked to "review" the process and "certify" to the state government within a short period that except for minor "follies", several districts had cent per cent literacy rate.
In 1999, an official report — Social Assessment of Primary Education — stated that the problem of literacy was more outside the state government. One of its authors, sociologist Vidyut Joshi, said, "The government bureaucracy finds solutions for poor literacy within the system through providing better classrooms and more teachers. We believe social reformers can find a better solution."
In 1995, the Indian Institute of Management -Ahmedabad had suggested after a study that the literacy issue be solved by pooling in some of the best teachers in the state who had fought illiteracy in villages without government help.
"We asked the government to take these teachers'' advice. They can be resource teachers and can even train teachers in such a way that literacy levels improve. Some of them have earned national acclaim. But the government didn''t care to do that," Prof Anil Gupta said.