Education & Training

The route to real empowerment of any people goes through education. Though India has made great strides in educating its citizens since the independence of the country, total literacy is yet to be achieved and many parts of the country still languish well below the world literacy average. Kerala is the only exception where the literacy rate is better than the global average. So the question is why can’t this be made possible in all Indian States? The answer to this lies in the need for a relentless and stepped up effort to achieve total literacy as a rule without leaving out any exceptions. There are programmes for this and a new education policy is in the process of being implemented. But the key to success rests in the intention to do away with complacency of any kind till the time every Indian is able to read, write and feel confident.

Since education is also normally linked with employment, the deficiencies in learning too need to be addressed and education has to be linked with skills to make the learner employable. India has programmes for skill-development and vocational training. But the edge that these need to reach mass utility is missing. ICPRD is working to bridge all such gaps wherever they exist as per a plan to renew the programmes that can help people to stand on their feet as reasonably educated and suitably skilled for different kinds of jobs.