In 1966, UNESCO proclaimed the 8th of September as International Literacy Day to remind the International Community of the importance of literacy for individuals, communities and societies and the need for intensified efforts towards more literate societies. The issue of literacy is a key component of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ILD 2021 will be celebrated under the theme “Literacy for a human centred recovery: Narrowing the digit divide.” One of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 is to ensure that all young people accomplish literacy and numeracy and opportunity to obtain these skills should be given to those adults who lack them.

       Better literacy and educational level definitely have a positive impact on overall development and productivity of a society. The significance of literacy in fighting against the backwardness in third world countries is voiced by Asia Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL). India has enacted ‘Right to Education’ to ensure free and compulsory education for children in the age group 6-14 years. Literacy and level of education are basic indicators of the level of development achieved by a society. Higher levels of education and literacy, particularly of female literacy, lead to a greater awareness and also contributes in improvement of economic and social conditions. It acts as a catalyst for social upliftment, enhancing the returns on investment made in almost every aspect of development effort.

India has seen its literacy rate increasing steadily from 18.32% in 1951 to 72.98% in 2011. As per the population censuses, the literacy rate of female and males has increased from 8.36% to 64.63% and 27.15% to 80.9% respectively. In 2011, among the State or Union Territories, the highest literacy rate of 94% is in Kerala and lowest is 61.8% in Bihar. The average expenditure on education per student is by and large less in rural areas as com - pared to urban areas. 

A major indicator of the quality of a nation’s human capital is literacy rate. India’s adult literacy rate is 73.2% as per latest reports. Child and youth literacy numbers for both males and females have borne fruit over the years standing at 93% and 94% respectively. If India is able to sustain this momentum, then the country might be able to achieve universal literacy for all by 2030. While the country has made significant progress, it still remains home to about 313 million illiterates; 59% of them are women. India in 2021 is far more literate than India in 1987. It has successfully broken out of the “low literacy trap” in which the illiteracy of parents leads to literacy outcomes for the successive generation.

Prior rulers and governments have played a significant role in Kerala’s literacy success. It enjoys the highest indicators in these area as it started at the highest level at Independence. Ker - ala State Literacy Mission Authority, the State’s literacy program is a main contributor to Kerala’s total literacy. This is an autonomous institute under the State Government (the General Educational Department). It was set up in 1998 for the purpose of coordinating and activating the ‘Literacy and continuing education’ propagating the slogan, “Education for all and forever.” The basics of this program was to include a push to take Kerala to a 100% literacy rate. This ensures secondary education, providing skills and abilities to put forth the practices of reading and writing in daily lives. They draw their attention in urban slum, coastal and tribal populations. The district-level activities are looked after by the District Literacy Missions. National Literacy Mission of Ministry of HRD of Government of India has launched service delivery units with its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. 

The Total Literacy Movement was first initiated at Ernakulum District and Kottayam Municipality in the late 80’s. On 4th of February 1990, the then Prime Minister, Shri V. P. Singh declared Ernakulum as the first total literate district in India. State wide literacy survey was conducted on 8th of April 1990; 28.52 lakhs of people were found illiterate. With the help of voluntary organizations like Shasthra Sahithya Parishad, classes were conducted and on 18th of April 1991, Kerala became the first total literate state in India. At present, Kerala’s literacy rate ranks at 94%; Kottayam being highest (97.21%) and Thiruvananthapuram at 93.02%. The necessity for investing in development projects is witnessed by the advancement in literacy. When careful formulation with the population in mind and appropriate funding is given to development activities, concrete gains can be derived. There is much that one can learn from the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority and to apply to achieve total literacy around the world. 

History has time and again shown that there is no need to worry that new technologies would threaten older skills. With the huge involvement of digital tools and devices in this information-based age, the requirement of literary skills of an individual is quite significant. Of course, there are pros and cons in any platform but active handling of such medium may begin a new realm which best suits especially in a pandemic situation.