Half of primary school dropouts forget literacy lessons in 10 yrs

"About half of the students with four to five years of schooling are found literate after leaving the school," said a recent nationwide survey-based study of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), a coalition of NGOs working for the promotion of literacy.

The report said: "It is seen that there has been a substantial loss of literacy skills of the population, but the loss was dramatically higher for those which 2-3 years of schooling than those with-4-5 years of schooling."

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The CAMPE study, the fourth in the series of Education Watch, was aimed at assessing the state of literacy in the country by administering a literacy skill test and recording their opinions and demands.

The study also depicted a dismal picture of the standard of primary education, saying that more than a third of those who had years of schooling failed to acquire literacy even at the initial stage.

Of the 13,145 people of different ages and gender groups surveyed under the study, 49.3 percent cut a sorry figure in the literacy test receiving less than a quarter of the total score and were categorised as non-literate.

Twenty one percent of the respondents scored at the level of "initial literacy skills" and 20.4 percent had scored at the level of "advanced literacy skills".

"The state of literacy in the country is an indictment of the poor quality of primary education and schooling in general. Major improvements in primary education is essential to make progress in literacy," the study report said.

The study also found that despite massive campaigns to promote literacy for better living, most people do not seem to find the use their literacy skills for improving their living condition or quality of life.

"Only 10 percent people find their literacy skills useful in collecting relevant information for a better life," it said.

"A strong demand exists for post-literacy training for income generating skills, but no model exists for meeting this demand successfully on a large scale," the study said.