YOUTH AND LITERACY

“No skill is more crucial to the future of a child, or to a democratic and

prosperous society, than literacy” said the Los Angeles Times in its "A Child Literacy
Initiative for the Greater Los Angeles Area". Wise words indeed. As nations look forward
and plan their futures, they plan primarily for their children. It is the youth of the nation
who will bear their countries’ flags high. These young people should be capable,
responsible and have the flair and aptitude to carry their country forward to greater
heights. For all this, a good education is important. Forget important, it is indispensable.

Turning back the pages of history and studying the times of the great empires of
yore, one startling fact strikes our eyes. It is but this: the superpowers of the past have all
had exceptionally good education systems, the best of their times anyway, and their youth
were able to use it to the utmost. Churning this fact in our minds for some time, we also
discover that they fell to the dust as a result of this education system of theirs falling
down in standards. It is no coincidence that the superpower of our times, the United
States has the best education system among all the countries and it is also no coincidence
that educationists feel that its standards are coming down comparative to other countries,
at the same time that other experts believe that the United States is losing its pre-eminent
position among countries.

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire”, said William
Butler Yeats, an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century
literature. In his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms and was a
driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival. To the consternation of educationists all
over the world, very often education as we see it is nothing but gross filling up of pails.
Education has been distorted to such an extent that interest is not generated and a dreary
practice of learning by rote has become the norm. The talents of our youth are often
censored by this process of mindless following of a singular method of education. Of
course, blind “mugging” as this process is called by few, is constructive is some ways;
but there is a time and a situation where this method should be used and I believe that it is
not being done properly at all. We would do well to fix it.

The youth should look at education as an elevator to the upper echelons of

society. A one-time elevator that once is missed, is lost forever. If we look at the world
around us, we come to realize one thing. All the “pezzonovante” of our planet have
strived as hard as they could to make their mark on the planet. They have left no steps
unturned, to use an oft-used inanity, to work their way up, planning, plotting and
dreaming. “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers”, said Harry S. Truman,
the 33rd President of the United States. He was a folksy, unassuming president and was
thought to exemplify integrity and accountability. He coordinated the greatest
election upset in American history over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 Presidential
Elections. These aforementioned words of his just reinforce the point I have been trying
to make; that to work our way up, we need to have a certain amount of knowledge about
how the world ticks and we can get only via the written word. Television, internet and
various other means to gain knowledge have come into existence and they are good
sources of information, but books and newspapers are still the primary sources of
information, or rather knowledge. Over the years, the importance of written material has
decreased but still holds a very important place.

“It is well to read everything of something, and something of everything” said

Lord Henry P. Brougham, a British statesman who became Lord Chancellor of the United
Kingdom and who holds the House of Commons record for non-stop speaking at six
hours. While the above-mentioned statement hints at a gift for the gab, it looks as though
the statesman valued his words too. A proper education must impart an amalgam of
knowledge from many quarters with an in-depth knowledge of the subject one specializes
in. This type of an education is the best in most cases, except of course in such cases or
professions where a different method of education helps more. However, very often this
method of education is not much in use. Changes must be wrought in the very crux of the
educational system itself and only such a change can be useful in the long run.
 Our life must become an altar to learning. For not only will this learning be
beneficial to us later on in our lives but it also enriches our lives considerably. “Live as if
your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”, said Mahatma Gandhi,
the widely-admired and loved Father of our nation, the pre-eminent political and
ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement who
pioneered Satyagraha. By these words, the great soul means to convey to us that we
should live each day with as much piety as we would if we knew we were going to die
the next day. Compare this with St. Paul’s “I die everyday”, in the Bible. He also seeks to
convey that we should accrue knowledge as though we need to gain enough knowledge to
live forever. Only this kind of a proper, deliberate perusal of knowledge will be useful to
us in the long run.

In India, the literacy rate is however a dismal 68%. The level is well below the
world average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the largest illiterate
population of any nation on earth. The above statements make for a gloomy read. But
there is still hope. The 2001 census indicated a 1991-2001 decadal literacy growth of
12.63%, which is the fastest-ever on record. A 1990 study estimated that it would take
until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress. India is
a young country now the marvelous economic growth of our country is because of this
young population. For us to take proper advantage of this, we will have to ensure that
literacy in our country reaches as high as possible. China has been able to do so and
currently enjoys a literacy rate of above 90% which is much higher than the world
average of approximately 84%. Closer home, we can take the example of Kerala. It
adopted a style which enabled "fusion between the district administration headed by its
Collector on one side and, on the other side, voluntary groups, social activists and
others". It currently has a literacy rate of above 90% too. India would certainly do well to
emulate the Kerala Government on a larger scale.
PRATHEEK PRAVEEN KUMAR

prytheek@yahoo.com