NASIM AKTAR
Research Scholar
Department of Geography
AMU, Aligarh
ABSTRACT
This paper is an
attempt to analyze the ‘Correlation between Literacy and Sex Ratio in West Bengal’.
Education is universally recognized as a major component of human development.
As such, certain minimum level of literacy seems to be essential for a
population to break out the vicious of poverty. Literacy affected on various
attributes of the population such as fertility, mortality, migration and also
sex ratio. The knowledge of sex ratio is essential for the understanding the
condition of women in society. A decline or low number of female population in
the total population is strongly suggestive of the neglect of girl children,
sex selective abortions and traditional attitudes of the society. Thus, the
analysis of literacy and sex ratio is immense significant. According to 2011
census, the total population of West Bengal is 91,347,736, sex ratio is 947 and
the literacy rate is 77.08.
Key
words:
Education, Literacy, Sex Ratio, Correlation, West
Bengal
INTRODUCTION
Literacy refers to the
ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about the
written word. Literacy is one of the most important indicators of social
development. Literacy is the heart of basic education for all. It is essential
for poverty reduction, mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender
equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy. ‘Literacy
has been defined as the ability both to read and write with understanding in
any language of children who are above six years of age’.
India
is one of the least literate societies in the world. According to the census of
2011, in India, the literacy rate was 74.04 percent. This however, does not
include the children who are below six years of age. In 2011, the highest
literacy rate was found in Kerala i.e. 93.91 percent and lowest literacy rate
was found in Bihar where it was 63.82 percent.
In West Bengal, the overall literacy was
recorded as 77.08 percent in 2011. There are wide disparities from district to
district in literacy rate. The highest literacy was found in Kolkata district lowest
in Uttar Dinajpur district i.e. 87.14 percent and 60.13 percent respectively.
The sex ratio is also
important demographic component for the human development. The sex composition
of a population is usually expressed in terms of sex ratio i.e. number of
female per thousand of males. According to 2011 census, the sex ratio of India
is 940. Among the states , Kerala records the highest sex ratio of 1084 and
Haryana has the lowest sex ratio of 877. In West Bengal, the sex ratio is
higher than the national average, it was recorded sex ratio of 947. Among the
districts, the highest sex ratio found in Darjeeling district and lowest in
Kolkata district i.e. 971 and 899 respectively.
STUDY
AREA
The state of
West Bengal has been selected as a study area which is located between 21o25'
to 26o50' north latitudes and 86o30' to 89o58'
east longitudes with three international boundaries i.e., Bangladesh, Nepal and
Bhutan. It occupies a geographical area of about 88,752 sq. km. (2.70 per cent
of the India‘s total geographical area) and extending from the Himalayas in the
north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. It is surrounded by Sikkim and Bhutan
in the north, Assam and Bangladesh in the east, the Bay of Bengal in the south
and Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and Nepal in the west. According to 2011 Census, its
total population is 91,347,736 (7.79 per cent of India‘s total population),
density is 1030 persons per sq. km. (in terms of population density West Bengal
is on the second among the Indian states).
OBJECTIVES
The major objectives of this paper are as under:
1.
To study the spatial pattern of literacy
rate in the study region.
2.
To examine the spatial pattern of sex
ratio in the study region.
3.
To analyze the correlation between
spatial pattern of literacy and sex ratio in the study region.
DATABASE
AND METHODOLOGY
The
paper is based on secondary data sources. To fulfill the objectives data
regarding literacy and sex ratio of West Bengal is obtained from census of West
Bengal (2011), statistical abstract of West Bengal.
Spatial
Pattern of Literacy Rate
West Bengal as a
whole has 77.08 percent literacy in 2011. But the district level literacy
differs from district to district ranges from 60.13 per cent to 87.66 per cent.
All 19 districts of West Bengal are divided into three categories as following:
(in Fig. 1)
High
Literacy Rate
The districts which
have above mean plus one standard deviation are included in this category. The
districts have the literacy rate above 79.92 per cent are included in high
category. High literacy rate was recorded in the district of Midnapore(East),
Howrah, Hoogly, 24 Parganas(North) and Kolkata due to high number of
educational institutions, availability of educational facilities, high
urbanization, development of transport and communication and so on.
Moderate
Literacy Rate
The districts
which have literacy rate ranges from 70.95 to 79.92 per cent are included in
this category. Moderate literacy was recorded in the districts of Burdwan,
Bankura, Midnapore(West), 24 Prganas(South), Nadia, Dakshin Dinajpur,
Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Cooch Behar district. In these districts, moderate
literacy was found due to lack of educational infrastructure.
Low
Literacy Rate
The districts which
have literacy rate below 70.95 per cent are included in low category. Low
literacy rate was found in the districts of Birbhum, Murshidabad, Malda, Uttar
Dinajpur and Purulia. In these districts low literacy was recorded due to lack
of educational institution, poverty and low student teacher ratio.
Table No.1: Literacy Rate and Sex Ratio in West
Bengal, 2011
Source: Census of India, 2011
Spatial Pattern of Sex
Ratio
West
Bengal as a whole has 947 number of females per thousand of males population in
2011. But the districts level sex ratio is varies from district to district
ranges from 899 to 971. All 19 districts
are categorized into three groups as follows: (in Fig. 2)
High
Sex Ratio
The
districts which have the sex ratio above 947 are included into high category.
High sex ratio was recorded in the districts of Birbhum, Bankura,
Midnapore(West), Hoogly, 24 Parganas(North), 24 Parganas(South), Murshidabad,
Dakshin Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Purulia.
Moderate
Sex Ratio
The
districts which have sex ratio ranges from 900 to 947 are included in the
moderate category. Moderate sex ratio was recorded in the districts of Burdwan,
Midnapore(East), Howrah, Nadia, Uttar Dinajpur, Malda and Cooch Behar.
Low
Sex Ratio
The
districts which have the sex ratio below 900 are included in this group. Only
Kolkata district has the lowest sex ratio in West Bengal. The following are the
some reasons for low sex ratio in West Bengal:
1. Neglected
of girl child
2. High
maternal mortality
3. Sex
selective
4. Female
infanticide.
With
small family norms, many young couples do not for a second child happens to be
a male. Higher female life expectancy is likely to initiate a new trend and
tilt the scale of low sex ratio.
Correlation
between Literacy and Sex Ratio
The Spearman’s Rank Difference method is
used for the calculation of the correlation of literacy and sex ratio in West
Bengal. It is observed that there is rather low and negative correlation i.e.
p=-0.14 between the literacy and sex ratio in West Bengal.
Conclusion
There
are wide disparities in the literacy and sex ratio of West Bengal in 2011. The
highest literacy was found in Midnapore(East) district and lowest in Uttar
Dinajpur District. The highest sex ratio was found in Darjeeling district
whereas lowest in Kolkata district of West Bengal. But the correlation between
literacy and sex ratio found in low degree and negative angle i.e. p= -0.14. It
means high literacy rate, low sex ratio. It was observed higher the literacy
rate lower the sex ratio i.e. Kolkata district and lower the literacy higher
the sex ratio i.e. Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal.
References
1. Agarwal
S.N. (1973): India’s Population Problem. Tata mcGrae Hill Publishing, New
Delhi.
2. Banerjee,
M.(1977): The Pattern of Sex Ratio in Singhbhum district, Bihar. Geographical
Review of India, Vol. 39, pp. 30-38.
3. Mukul
Chandra Patra(2010): The pattern of Literacy- A case study of Kolkata. Indian
Journal of Regional Sciences, Vol. XXXXII, No. 1, pp. 79-85.
4. Government
of West Bengal: Census of India 2011
http:// www.censusindia.gov.in