“After 75 years since Independence Day, the statistics of the literate population have reached 80%. Which means that 20% of the population or around 25 million rupees are still below the primary definition of literacy “,
he said
At least 15 million children and young people are excluded from the country’s formal education system, and about 25 million million of the population do not meet the main definition of literacy, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday.
He addressed a session on “Job Creation and Entrepreneurship” organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at its annual meeting.
If we take into account the number of children and young people aged 3-22 who are enrolled in public, private and charity schools, Anganwadis, higher education institutions and across the entire competency ecosystem, the cumulative figure for all verticals is around 35 crore while the population (of the country) in the particular age group is around 50 crore, said Pradhan.
This means that at least 15 million children and young people are excluded from the formal educational system. We want to integrate them into the educational system, he added.
The education minister said a census conducted after the country’s independence found that 19% of the population was literate at the time.
After 75 years of Independence Day, the literate population statistics have reached 80 percent. Which means that 20% of the population, or about 25 million rupees, is still below the main definition of literacy, he said.
Developing the various provisions of the New National Education Policy (NEP), Pradhan said it was not just a document, but a roadmap for the next 25 years to achieve “certain goals for the 100 years of independence.”
Pradhan, who is also the Minister of Skills Development, said that for the first time, the government has combined education and skills departments. This decision created a new approach to good livelihoods, he said.