Karnataka boasts one of the best-educated workforces in the world with its heavy concentration of IT-specialists in Bangalore. It is indeed apparent that Bangalore agglomeration along with other cities such as Mangalore or Belgaum record very high levels of literacy.

However, the general picture in the State is less impressive as intra-regional variations are wide. In large areas of the Hyderabad Karnatak region along the Andhra Pradesh border, literacy rates are often well below 50% and these values can even lower among rural women such as in Raichur district. Even more surprising are the disappointing education levels recorded in the rural Mysore region where rural activities have been rather prosperous during the recent decades. While some tribal pockets do account for some of "illiteracy peaks" in South Karnataka, there are many other rural areas where illiteracy and flourishing irrigated agriculture coexist such as in the Mandya area.

The map also indicates that the spatial patterns of education in Karnataka points to the influence of a specific Malabar or Konkan model: the coastal areas that stretch from Kerala to Goa are clearly better advanced in terms of literacy than inland districts. In Karnataka, we may observe that this coastal influence is also felt in the Malnad (Ghat) region that enjoys a better educational situation that the Maidan.

C.Z.G.