Education For All (EFA)

As per Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2006, there are 771 million illiterates in the 15+ age group in the world, of which 34.6% are in India. As per Census 2001, there are 260 million illiterates in the country in the 15+ age group of which 168 million, or about 64% are women.The Universalisation of Elementary Education and eradication of adult illiteracy form the two-pronged strategy for improving the literacy rate of the country. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is a comprehensive programme for universalising quality elementary education by 2010.The National Literacy Mission (NLM) is entrusted with the target of achieving a sustainable threshold level of 75% literacy by 2007. The thrust areas of NLM are improving female literacy in low female literacy areas, organizing projects for residual illiteracy in districts which have substantial number of illiterates, setting up of continuing education centres for providing opportunities for life long learning to the neo-literates and imparting vocational training to neo-literates through Jan Shikshan Sansthans.Special programmes of residual illiteracy have been taken up in low female literacy districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand. In addition, the launching of a special literacy drive for eradication of residual illiteracy in 150 districts, which have the lowest literacy rates, has been approved.