Achieving Universal Literacy in Andhra Pradesh: Status and Prospects

The main objective of the present paper is to assess the prospects of achieving universal adult literacy with a policy intervention factor through adult literacy programmes that target different age groups. As a backdrop, the paper presents the status analysis with respect to the progress in the literacy rate and changes in disparities across social and geographical groups in the literacy rate in Andhra Pradesh. An analysis has highlighted the poor performance of the state with respect to the promotion of literacy during the last decade as compared to that of the previous decades. The state has continued to remain one of the backward states in this respect in India. The exercise that explored the prospects of the literacy rate in the state through a simulation exercise shows the impossibility of achieving a 100 per cent literacy rate in the near future without any policy intervention through adult literacy programmes. The state can achieve a literacy rate of 95 per cent by 2050 if it succeeds in rigorously implementing the adult literacy programmes at least for a fi ve-year period from 2013 onwards for the age group of 15-35 years, which would cover all the illiterates in this age group. If the target age group for the adult literacy programmes extends to the 35-60 year age group and the programme is implemented at least for a five-year period from 2013 onwards, the state can achieve a 100 per cent literacy rate by 2050. Therefore, achievement of the goal of 100 per cent literacy rate in the state depends on its policy intervention through adult literacy programmes, as well as rigour in their implementation and coverage.