Literacy is the key

The China vs. India debate continues to run and run with many learned theories about how the systems compare. China Digital Times, for example, quoted the Calcutta Telegraph earlier this week. Infrastructure is often cited, different banking systems, the advantages and disadvantages of parliamentary democracy to economic development. All fascinating and, to some extent relevant.

We wonder, though, and as purveyors of the written word, we wonder hard, why so little is spoken of literacy in the context of economic development. The comparisons are striking:

India adult literacy
Total population: 59.5%
Male: 70.2%
Female: 48.3%

China adult literacy
Total population: 90.9%
Male: 95.1%
Female: 86.5%

The population totals of the two giants of Asia are increasingly similar but, if 40% of that population is excluded from the modern knowledge economy by illiteracy, there will always be a huge drag on how far the country can rise. When over half of the women in the country are excluded from the modern economy, a massive deficit in the development potential can be the only result.