NSSO Report Says Odisha Has Only 31.4 % Educated Persons

The NSSO’s (National Sample Survey Office), November 2019, survey report on social consumption relating to education has come up with some unexpected facts about the state of education in the state of Odisha.

According to NSSO’s “Household Social Consumption on Education in India”, survey, Odisha has a literacy rate of 77.3 per cent but only 31.4 % are educated.

Odisha’s literacy rate is 0.4 per cent less than the national average of 77.7 per cent. And the percentage of education populace is around 7.3 per cent less than the national average of 38.7 percent.

In matter of literacy too, there is a noticeable gap between male and female literate persons in the state. The male literacy is 84 percent and female literacy stands at 70.3 per cent.

There is a gap between literacy rate in urban and rural areas as well. In urban areas the literacy rate is 90.2 per cent while in rural areas it is 74.5 per cent.

Odisha’s literacy rate fares better than its neighbours Andhra Pradesh (66.4 percent) and Jharkhand (74.3 per cent), but lower than West Bengal (80.5 per cent).

But when it comes to the percentage of educated persons, Odisha’s percentage is lower than Andhra Pradesh (33.9 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (32 per cent) but higher than West Bengal (30 per cent).

Kerala has retained its position as the most literate state with the highest literacy rate of 96.2 per cent.

Literacy rate is defined as the percentage of literate persons among persons of age 7 years and above. A person who can read and write a simple message in any language with understanding, is considered literate in NSS surveys. And a person is considered educated if he/she has completed secondary level /or above, education.