Literacy in Bihar

Bihar has a total literacy rate of 79.7%. The overall male and female literacy rates are 70.32% and 53.57% respectively. The total rural literacy rate is 43.9%. In rural areas of Bihar, male and female literacy rate is 57.1 and 29.6 respectively. The total Urban literacy rate is 71.9. In urban areas of Bihar, Male and Female literacy rate is 79.9 and 62.6 respectively. . Total number of literates in Bihar is 3,16,75,607 which consists 2,09,78,955 Male and 1,06,96,652 Female. Rohtas has highest Literacy Rate of 73.37% followed by Patna (70.68%) and Bhojpur (70.47%). Sitamarhi has lowest Literacy Rate of 51.08% followed by Purnea (51.18%) and Katihar (52.24%). A recent survey by Pratham rated the receptivity of Bihari children to their teaching as being better than those in other states. Bihar is striving to increase female literacy, now at 53.3%. At the time of independence, women's literacy in Bihar was 4.22%.

The state's low literary rates stem from the regions complex educational challenges. Education in Bihar significantly lags behind other states in India.

Key data

 * Literacy
 * In Absolute Numbers- 5,96,75,607
 * Male - 3,99,78,955
 * Female - 1,97,96,652
 * Percentage of Total Population -69%
 * Male - 70.32%
 * Female - 53.57%
 * Percentage of Urban Population -81.9%
 * Male - 89.9%
 * Female - 72.6%
 * Percentage of Rural Population -53.9%
 * Male - 67.1%
 * Female - 39.6%
 * Highest Literacy Rate
 * Rohtas - 75.59%
 * Lowest Literacy Rate
 * Purnia, 52.49%