PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand is just a step away from achieving the status of a ‘fully literate’ State. A proposal in this regard will be presented in the upcoming meeting of the State cabinet. Uttarakhand will become the sixth State after Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim to achieve the milestone.
The Education minister Dhan Singh Rawat said that the State is meeting all the criteria and standards set under the central government’s Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS) programme.
He claimed that Uttarakhand is just one step away from achieving another milestone in the field of education. Rawat said after the cabinet approval, the proposal will be sent to the Government of India. He directed officials of the School Education department to submit the proposal to the government soon. Rawat said that at present the literacy rate of the State exceeds 98 per cent. He added that under the ULLAAS programme, special focus was placed on basic literacy, critical life skills, vocational skills, basic education and continuing education for adults. “To achieve this, the School Education department, in collaboration with social organizations, corporate entities, and conscious citizens, adopted villages and educated illiterate adults. It primarily targeted women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other disadvantaged groups. The plan prioritized areas where female literacy rates were below 60 per cent,’’ he said.
Fully literate State
The status of total literacy is determined under the central government’s ULLAS programme, which focuses on education for people over the age of 15. A State is considered “total literate” when the adult literacy rate reaches 95 per cent or more and the target of providing education to the non-literate population is achieved.
