A District Level Analysis on Disparity In Literacy Rate Among the Scheduled Tribe and Non-Scheduled Tribe Population in West Bengal

Abstract

Literacy rate is one of the most important indicators for measuring social development. The magnitude of socio-economic progress of any region is computed by literacy rate and level of education of that particular region. In the last few decades India has witnessed improvement in literacy rate however it also experienced disparity in the pattern of literacy rate among the scheduled tribe and nonscheduled tribe population, Despite the free and compulsory education for the children upto the age of 14, difference in terms of socio-economic condition among various social groups become an obstacle for implementation of right to education to the deprived sections of the society. The increase in literacy rate in West Bengal has also taken place unevenly with respect to the social groups. Even within the same segments of population, diverse socio-economic condition creates a difference in literacy rate. Therefore the present study is an attempt in mapping out the regional disparity in literacy rate among the scheduled tribe and non-scheduled tribe population at district level in West Bengal based on the data from Census, 2011. The output of the study will help to identify the problematic districts which have high disparity in literacy rate among the tribal and non-tribal population so that new strategies can be developed to minimize the disparity.