New Delhi: The government on Saturday expressed
hope that the country`s literacy rate will touch 80 per cent
by 2015 with the success of programmes like Saakshar Bharat
mission.
"The average literacy, which is 74 per cent, will reach
80-85 per cent by 2015. This is a big achievement," HRD
Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here at the end of a
international conference on women`s literacy.
He said while more than 40 lakh people have been
empowered through Saakshar Bharat including women, in the
coming times 70 million adults and 7 million women will
benefit from this programme.
The centrally-sponsored programme was launched on
September 8, 2009 with an aim to further promote and
strengthen adult education especially of women.
The three-day conference resolved to forge alliances for
regional and sub-regional cooperation to meet the goals set
particularly in the areas of capacity building, assessment
protocol, training and research. It was attended by the
highly-populated E-9 countries of Bangladesh, Brazil, China,
Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan and
SAARC countries.
An outcome document released at the end of the meet
suggested establishment of a centre on policy research and
training in adult education here to the benefit of these
countries.
PTI
