visakhapatnam as per the 75th round household survey conducted by national sample survey organization for 201718 andhra pradesh with a literacy rate of 664 has been ranked the worst among all indian states but the numbers only reflect a striking gender disparity and inequality in attaining female literacythere is a near 14 difference between the male 734 and female 595 literacy rates as per the survey it is further worse with 534 literacy rate among rural women however the same data highlighted the gradually shrinking gap in the enrolment ratio in the young cohort indicating a reducing gender gap and changing perceptions towards girl child education older adults still being a majority of the population continued to highlight the literacy gapandhra pradesh has had an almost equal female population ever since 1901 when it was 1004 for every 1000 males it was 997 as per the 2011 census but ageold societal boundaries and low literacy rate limited womens role in society even though things have significantly improved in the last two to three decades experts said that the then prevailing poor school infrastructure for girls social milieu lack of awareness and perceptions priority towards sons education early marriage system etc might have contributed to a skewed female literacy rateprof v balmohan das former vicechancellor acharya nagarjuna university said that the last four decades have witnessed a sea change in female enrolment in educational institutions the perception towards female education has significantly changed among parents over the decades with the parents now giving more preference to their daughters there were hardly any female students in some courses during our student days but now in a very good sign we can see women in all sectors i hope with the decreasing gap in enrolment the state will soon record the best literacy rates in the country said das