Draft Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) Andhra Pradesh Volume 2 (Sectoral Programmes) 7. Social Services Education, Sports, Art and Culture, Information and Publicity

Abstract

Education is fundamental to all round development of any society. It is a means to human development and human empowerment, economic liberalisation in India has opened up several opportunities, but when almost half of the population cannot read, write or count or cannot follow written instructions or can not deal with information technology, they can not avail of its full benefits. Therefore, basic education is a must to seize the opportunities provided by the market-led economy. Illiteracy is also a bar to self-expression and articulation. The educational gap between rich and poor, urban and rural, male and female in terms of access, learning process and achievment levels is not only a denial of equal opportunities but also restricts the contribution of education to human development. Therefore.education has to be linked up with multiple goals of devlopment in finalising the planning strategy.