Education and Unemployment in Kerala M D Apte KERALA leads the country in literacy, with more than 66 per cent of its male and 53 per cent of its female population being literate, according to the 1971 Census. Kerala was already far ahead of the other states in the field of education in 1947. In addition to primary and secondary education, the state had made considerable progress in higher education as well. In 1951 there were 105 colleges in what is now Kerala; of these, 45 were arts and science colleges, 30 professional colleges and 18 teachers' training colleges. By 1971 the number of colleges had risen to 343, out of which 120 were arts and science colleges and 200 professional coleges. Relatively speaking, technical education has lagged behind; thus in 1971 out of about 1.50 lakhs students in different colleges, 1.40 lakhs were In arts and science colleges.
