Malavika Karlekar (ed.). Paradigms of Learning: The Total Literacy Campaign in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 2004. 356 pages. Paperback. Indian Rupees 375.00.

Raising the standards of literacy in the developing world hasbeen a major goal of the less developed countries since most of thembecame independent in the process of decolonisation that followed WorldWar II. The Human Development Report 2004, brought out by the UnitedNations Development Programme lists some major improvements inincreasing literacy levels of a number of countries between the year1990 and 2002. For example, low human development countries like Togoincreased their adult literacy rates from 44.2 percent in 1990 to 59.6percent in 2002. Congo saw an increase in its literacy rate for the sameperiod from 67.1 percent to 82.8 percent. The rates for Uganda, Kenya,Yemen, and Nigeria are 56.1 percent and 68.9 percent, 70.8 percent and84.3 percent, 32.7 percent and 49.0 percent, and 48.7 percent and 68.8percent respectively. If one examines the breakdown by region, the leastdeveloped countries as a group saw an increase in their adult literacyrates from 43.0 percent to 52.5 percent, the Arab states from 50.8percent to 63.3 percent, South Asia from 47.0 percent to 57.6 percent,Sub-Saharan Africa from 50.8 percent to 63.2 percent and East Asia andthe Pacific from 79.8 percent to 90.3 percent. If we look at theincrease in the levels of literacy from the perspective of medium humandevelopment and low human development, the figures are 71.8 percent and80.4 percent, and 42.5 percent and 54.3 percent,respectively.