Neo-literates to be ambassador's of literacy programme: Naidu

"Neo-literates" will be the ambassadors of the country's literacy programme and community learning centres that would be developed into hubs of literacy learning and community empowerment, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said here today.
Naidu was addressing an event on the 51st International Literacy Day.
"It is indeed heartening to note that every year more than one crore adult learners appear in the bi-annual learners assessment tests held across the country and that around 6.66 crore learners have successfully passed the test conducted by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) up to March 2017, of which about 70 per cent are women.

"I firmly believe that these neo-literates, majority of who are women, will be the ambassadors of our programme leading towards making 'Saakshar Bharat' (literate India) a 'Saksham Bharat' (capable India)," he said.
Asserting that literacy provides the first essential step towards building a participative, vibrant and a more inclusive democracy, Naidu suggested ways to achieve universal literacy including improving the quality of pre-primary and school education and providing opportunities for learning to those who have never been to school or have dropped out of school.
"If we have to move at a faster pace and achieve a literate world by 2030 and India has to ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults acquire these skills, we may have to review our past strategies and after an assessment of what has worked and what has not, learn from successful examples from within our country and outside.

"We may have to chalk out new ways to reach out to those learners who have not been reached till now," Naidu said.
The event was also attended by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and Ministers of State for HRD Upendra Singh Kushwaha and Satyapal Singh.