BHUBANESWAR: Even as the country would go all out observing the International Literacy Day tomorrow, Orissa literally suffers from a literacy deficiency. The urban-rural divide is sharp with the latter hosting 39 percent illiterate population against 17 percent in the urban agglomerations. The annual status of education report-2007 (ASER-07), in fact, puts it in the right perspective, against the backdrop of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in force since 2002. The report ranks Orissa at the top slot in India with 8 percent out-of-school children in 6-14 year age group. As on 2007, in rural Orissa, only seven districts have near cent percent enrolment. The devil lies in the details. The out-of-school children in 2007 in Rayagada, Malkangiri and Koraput stand at a national high of 36, 28 and 22 percent respectively. Nabarangpur and Gajapati districts have 15 and 13 percent respectively. The situation is such despite some noticeable improvements in the teacher attendance and school infrastructure in the recent years. The teacher attendance in 2007 jumped to 89 percent from 76 in 2005. Schools with drinking water facilities and toilets leapt to 77 and 44 percent respectively from 69 and 23 percent in 2005. More importantly, the coverage of mid-day meal scheme touched 97 percent last year against 70 in 2005. But, attendance of enrolled children has improved by a mere four percent to 71 percent in the last two years. It is seen that only five percent children were out of school in 7-10 age group. But the figure moves up sharply to 11.6 percent for the age group 11-14 and soaring to an astounding 34 percent in the 15-16 age group. This alludes to the fact that children in this age group take up work skipping education to supplement family income. Apart from the above slip-ups, the report unambiguously labels the quality of education delivered in the government schools a grade below private counterparts. But, only 3.3 percent enrol in the private schools - the lowest in the country. Deogarh with 8.7 percent enrolment in private schools tops the districts and, surprisingly, Gajapati district comes second with 7.8 percent.