Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Year : 2014, Volume : 4, Issue : 5
First page : ( 354) Last page : ( 362)
Online ISSN : 2249-7315.

Status of Literacy in Malda District of West Bengal – An Overview

Aktar Nasim, Sultana Chand

Research Scholars, Department of Geography, A.M.U., Aligarh

Online published on 7 May, 2014.

Abstract

Literacy and basic schooling liberate people. It is essential for eradicating poverty and mental isolation. Illiteracy, on the other hand, takes away from man his dignity and thus hampers economic growth and social advancement. Literacy and education are essential for human development. It contributes to better income and health of population. The strikingly low literacy rate among women is the product of historical, social and economic factors. Economically, the appalling poverty is seriously responsible for wide disparity between male female literacy rates. It is no denying fact that higher the value of female literacy rate better is the condition of the district. In this context, literacy rate of Malda district has been studied giving particular thrust on inter regional comparison and male female disparity. The present paper is aimed to analyze the status of literacy in Malda district of West Bengal. The study reveals that overall there is significant increase in literacy rates in the state, which has increased from 35.62 percent to 50.28 percent between the years 1991 to 2001. There is a significant difference in literacy rates between male and female in the both rural and urban areas of the district. Male literacy rate is substantially higher as compared to females in both rural and urban area in every block.

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Keywords

Literacy rate, desired knowledge, gender disparity in literacy rate.

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