The official meaning of a literate person per UNESCO is
A literate person is one who can with understanding both read and write a short simple statement relevant to his everyday life.
Such a simple sentence, but think what it means to be an illiterate person and how much impact an illiterate person has on the progress (or lack of progress) of a country and the world in general.
Here are some stats about the literacy rates in India
- Only 61.3% percent of the adult population are literate. That means more than 296 million people!!! are illiterate. For comparison, China has a literacy rate of 90.9%.
- India is the 12th largest economy in the world and growing at a blistering pace of 9% a year (for the last few years). Imagine what would have happened if there were more literate people in the country?
- The largest number of illiterates in the world are in India
As you know, I am running this years Chicago Marathon with a mission. I am raising money for the Asha Foundation, a non-profit helping to educate the underprivileged in India. Please take a moment to donate some money to the cause by clicking on the button below.
