Trend Analysis of Literacy and Gender Gap in Aligarh District of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

When you teach a man, you only educate one person; when you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation. Literacy is one of the most crucial abilities for personal and cultural growth and development, thus critical to India's socio-economic development. Because of the rapid changes in society and the economy, the value of literacy has grown in the modern world. Literacy gender disparities are a barrier in almost every undeveloped and developing country across the globe. While India has made every effort to ensure sex disparity in literacy is brought down as overall literacy levels increase year after year, to be reported every time a census is conducted, several aspects demand attention to date. However, a significant disparity based on gender has been seen in India at 16.27 percent, as per the 2011 census. This paper endeavors to study these complex issues and their dynamics in light of trends in literacy emerging in Aligarh District at the block level over the census conducted in 2001 and 2011. An attempt has been made to analyze changes in literacy patterns, decadal growth rates, and the gender gap in literacy in Aligarh district. This study is entirely based on secondary data collected from different sources, i.e., District Statistical Handbooks, Census of India, and statistical abstract. The literacy rate in the Aligarh district is 67.85 percent, and the female literacy rate is only 61.27 percent compared to the male literacy rate, i.e., 73.73 percent. Statistical techniques used in the analysis are simple percentages and the location quotient technique used to analyze the concentration of female literacy. ArcGIS 10.5 software is used to prepare maps. In this study, it has been found that there is a wide gender disparity in Aligarh District, which is 12.46 percent, whereas it is highest in Tappal and lowest in Lodha at the block level.