Difference between being literate and being educated

 

Difference between being literate and being educated

‘Education’, when we hear this word the one thing that comes to our mind is literacy. People use to judge a person by this thing that whether a person is literate or not. Simply, people decide this based on writing and reading. If a person can read a word or at least write his name then people will say that the person is literate and if the person is unable to read or write then people will say that the person is not literate. There is one more thing that decides whether a person is literate or not, and the thing is ‘signature’. The signature of a person decides that a person is educated or not. The policy of government in some states has also proved it by their taken steps on it. In some states of India to make more people literate, it began with the focus on the recent generation. The one old and common step of all states of India is free of cost education in government schools.

Giving education to the recent generation is a good step but the problem which was vacating this step is uneducated parents. If parents are not educated and they don’t know the value of education then they will not encourage their children to study. Keeping these things in mind the government of some states started a campaign according to which some government teachers made a camp in different villages and in that camp all old and elder parents were welcomed. They used to go to that camp and sat there. In that camp, those teachers used to explain the importance of education. They used to explain to them ‘why education is important. Knowing which parents and elders will encourage their children to study and have an education. Along with explaining they also used to teach them how to write their name and requested them to do signature in place of using the thumb.

Using thumb is the symbol of illiteracy so according to Indian policy, writing his name is the sign of the literacy of that person. So, the Indian government has worked on it and today most of the people of our country are now educated. At least they are literate and know how to write their names and do the signature. There is a difference between being literate and being educated. Being literate is important than being educated. Education is very important for everyone. Every person must be educated. But the question is that what is the limit of education? How a person will understand that a person is educated. Is only to know how to write his or her name is education. Can we say a person who knows to write is name an educated person? How we will decide that a person is educated. To make every Indian educated our Indian government has thought of it and also took steps, but are they successful to make every Indian educated? They tried a lot and divide the entire process into small steps. They invented a word called ‘literacy’. But, can we call a literate person an educated person?

Difference between literacy and education

The question arises that what is the difference between literacy and education. Going deeply into education we find that literacy is a part of education. A small step towards education is literacy. The Indian government has thought of it then took a step towards it. The conclusion which they got was that to make every person educated is not possible because it is based on the interest of the individual but to make everybody literate is possible. The exact meaning of literacy is to be aware of letters and words while the real meaning of education is to know your rights, stand for it, and fight for it according to rules and regulations and law of the constitution. If you know how to read and write a word with the recognition of letters then you are only literate but if you know your rights and know-how to fight and handle the situation smartly then you are educated. So many people are still confused with the difference between education and literacy but we don’t know the real meaning of education.

In short, writing a name and doing a signature in place of making a thumb with ink is the symbol of being literate but knowing our rights and fight for it smartly is education. But the small and powerful fact is that there is no limit and end to education. Learning is also a part of education. And learning has no end and limit. Every time and every minute we can learn a new thing and when we start using things practically and smartly whatever we learned till now is education. This is the real meaning of education and it is the difference between education and literacy.

School is the best way of education

We all know that school is the best way for education in India. Nowadays people know that if we want to make our children a young and smart generation who are educated then the simplest way is to put our children in the schools. But, if we see in deep, we will find that there is a division between countrymen. And the division is of rich and poor, Rural and Urban, Village people and City people. The people who live in cities only know and understand the value of education but the people who live in the village area are hardly aware of education. In case if people are aware of education but due to their poverty, they are unable to send their children to school. They can’t afford school fees for their children.

To overcome the problem of poverty and make poor children reach the schools the Indian government has taken the steps and opened the government schools for the children free of cost. In schools, children use to learn so many things. From class 01 to 09 is basic education which is compulsory for everyone while in 10th students get their 1st degree of matric, in 12th they become intermediate, and after doing graduation they called an educated person. At least everyone has the compulsory to do 10th for their getting certificate to called others an educated person. This is the basic education system of India.