Government plans to eradicate illiteracy by 2015

The government on Sunday launched ambitious 'Literate Nepal Campaign' aiming to eradicate illiteracy in the country by 2015. Unveiling a concept paper of the campaign in Kathmandu, Minister for Education Dina Nath Sharma said the government was committed to meet the target of making four million people literate within the next three years.

Minister Sharma also urged all the stakeholders including political parties, civil society leaders, NGOs, community organisations, teachers and students to join hands with the government to make the campaign successful.

"It is embarrassing for the state that millions of people are illiterate in 21st century," he added.

According to him, the government was also planning to end the provision of taking thumb print especially of senior citizen while drawing elderly allowance and single woman allowance by enabling all the citizen to have their signatures in the official documents.

Thought Nepal has made important progress in the last decade eradicating illiteracy still remains a dream as the recent surveys show near about 64 percent of total population being deprived of an opportunity to get educated.

According to the most recent Nepal Living Standards Survey of National Bureau of Statistics, Nepal has an adult literacy rate of 56.6 per cent, with a huge variation between males and females. The literacy rate is 71.6 per cent for men and 44.5 per cent for women. nepalnews.com