Vice President urged for eradication of illiteracy

The Vice President urged for eradication of illiteracy. The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today urged all involved people and institutions to come forward and work together in the field of education. He also requested to work towards adult education, skills training, digital literacy and financial literacy

Earlier today, the Vice President spoke in New Delhi after presenting the prestigious Nehru and Tagore Literacy Awards. He said despite making great progress in fields like IT and digitization, India still has the highest number of illiterates in the world. He wanted the literacy drive to become a people’s movement to address this problem. The youth in villages and colonies should teach at least one person from their localities or communities how to write or operate a digital device and take advantage of government schemes, he said, calling it their PSR – Personal Social Responsibility. ‘Each one, teach one’ should not just be a slogan, but should become a motivating force for young people, he said.

NEP to transform educational institutions into world-class institutions – Union Education Minister

The Vice President presenting the Nehru and Tagore Literacy Awards at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas today.
Indian Adult Education Association confers these Awards to individuals and institutions that have made noteworthy contributions to the field of education and national development. pic.twitter.com/DrHENuBeH8
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) December 19, 2021

Besides calling for eradicating illiteracy in mission mode, Shri Naidu also urged schools to encourage their students to start adult education drives in their areas over the weekend. “Students should get extra marks for such stuff,” he said.

He commended all awardees for their contribution to adult education and urged everyone to commit to making India a literate and educated nation. He said, “Literacy and education liberate people.” “They’re the basic instruments for change and progress,” he said. He also talked about poverty, the urban-rural divide, social discrimination, and gender discrimination.

As literacy rates are directly related to a country’s economic growth and the quality of life for its citizens, Shri Naidu noted that in a developing country like India, literacy is even more crucial as it helps with the implementation and outcome of various developmental programs. Affirming literacy as a precondition for skill education, the Vice President said it helps instil confidence in people, as well as make their social lives more active and dignified.

Thanking everyone for India’s near universal Gross Enrolment Ratio, the Vice President noted that Indian girls have higher school enrolment rates than boys. “We need to move from universal functional literacy to skill education and lifelong learning,” he said.

International Literacy Day

Every educated youth should teach at least one person from their localities
– how to write,
– how to operate digital devices and
– how to avail the benefits of government schemes.
Like CSR, it is your PSR – Personal Social Responsibility. pic.twitter.com/pbAGCS3Aq2
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) December 19, 2021

He praised the New Education Policy for its emphasis on various aspects of adult education. Shri Naidu said that this approach opens new views of growth and development with lifelong opportunities for socio-economic and cultural development. It recommends multiple avenues, like crowd funding and using online or app-based technology, satellite TV, online study resources, and libraries, to develop and promote adult education centers.

He congratulated the recipients of the Nehru and Tagore Literacy Awards, and he hoped they’d continue to work for an Educated and Empowered India.

The Indian Adult Education Association (IAEA) gives out the Nehru Literacy Award since 1966 and the Tagore Literacy Award since 1987 to people and organizations who make a significant contribution to education and national development. P. Adinarayana Reddy and M.C. Reddeppa Reddy won Nehru Literacy Awards for 2019 and 2020, respectively, while Prof. Anita Dighe and Smt. Nishat Farooq won two Tagore Literacy Awards in a row.