By: Astha Raghav
It is unfortunate that even after sixty years of our independence we have not been able to eradicate illiteracy from our country. In fact, illiteracy is the root cause of all the major maladies that afflict India today. If we wish to be counted among the top leading countries of the world, we have got to eradicate illiteracy. Besides, education is necessary for personal growth of any individual. It helps to promote self respect of a person. It increases participation in the democratic processes by bringing about an awareness about rights and duties as the citizen of our country. Something surely has to be done on the war footing to see more and more literates in our country.
The responsibility, however, doesn't lie with the government alone. It is the moral duty of each and every citizen of India who is fortunate enough to be educated to offer his voluntary services to promote literacy. In fact, students in schools and college can play a vital role in the direction by taking literacy classes for at least two hours every week. They can form teams for different age groups by identifying some adults/ children in their neighbourhood and organise classes in a common hall in the locality. Even in school, teachers can organise some groups and allot the willing school students the duties to teach the illiterates after school hours.
Another way to contribute to this literacy mission is to follow the concept of 'Each one Teach one'. Every students should take up the responsibility of teaching at least one illiterates person- possibly the domestic help or a vendor. Nothing is impossible and with earnest efforts and strong will power of the youth a lot can be achieved to bring down the rate of illiteracy and improve the quality of life for the illiterate counterparts of our country.
