Question.
Can literacy reflect the status of Human Development? Discuss.
(NCERT class 12 geography, India People and Economy, Chapter-3: Human Development)
Answer.
Human development is a process of growth in which people's options are expanded by increasing opportunities for people to get a good education, health care, and, income.
A Literate is a person who can read and write with an understanding of any one language.
Whether or not literacy reflects the level of human development has two aspects -
No, literacy does not reflect the state of human development:
- Literacy is not complete education and it is a step towards education. Even if an illiterate person takes decisions and leads a peaceful life, he may have more options than a literate person.
- Literacy only gives people the power to read and write, human development is not just reading and writing, it is much more than that. Literacy is not enough for human development.
Yes, literacy reflects the state of human development:
- There are three main criteria for calculating Human Development Index – literacy rate, life expectancy, and per capita income.
- The literacy rate is one of the three parameters to calculate the Human Development Index and at the same time literacy provides new options to people by increasing their knowledge of the people and stopping stereotypes. So, yes, literacy reflects the state of human development.
- In India, Kerala ranks first in the Human Development Index due to its literacy rate of around 94 percent.
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