Human Development in India - NCAER

education 87society. Arithmetic skills are even poorer. It is time to turnour attention from getting children into schools, to focusingon the quality of schooling to lay a strong foundation fora future labour force. Teacher absenteeism and corporealpunishment in schools remain rampant, and even privateschools are not free from it. This suggests that a focus onschool quality should be one of the highest priorities of thecoming decade.Fourth, regional disparities in a variety of educationalindicators are striking. While states like Himachal Pradeshhave made rapid strides, Bihar, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh, andMadhya Pradesh remain far behind. These inequalities canbe seen even in basic skills such as literacy, but the differencesare vast when we consider advanced skills, such as knowledgeof English or computer usage. Moreover, inequalitiesbetween women from different states are even greater thanthose between men. This digital divide may lead to wideningincome differences between regions in the years to come anddeserves greater attention than hitherto accorded.HIGHLIGHTS• Literacy rates in India have been rising sharply for all social groups, leading to a reduction in disparities by gender,caste, and religion.• However, improving the quality of education is going to be the next major challenge. Only about 54 per cent ofIndian children aged 8–11 are able to read a simple paragraph with even lower attainment for Dalit, Adivasi, andMuslim children.• Education is rapidly being privatized, with about 28 per cent children aged 6–14 in private schools and about 20per cent receiving private tutoring.• Only 9 per cent of males and 5 per cent of females aged 15–49 have a college degree or diploma; 5 percent males and 3 per cent females speak fluent English; and 7 per cent males and 4 per cent females have anycomputing skills.