For 80-year-old Kaalichothy, the eldest member of a Scheduled Caste (SC) family at Panangad, Saturday was a momentous day.
Having cleared the basic literacy programme run by the District Literacy Mission before the onset of the pandemic, the octogenarian was the oldest candidate to appear for the fourth equivalent exam in Ernakulam district.
Considering her age and frailty, she was allowed to write the exam at home. She dictated, and her 20-year-old granddaughter wrote it down.
Asked how well she had done in the exam, the affable Kaalichothy gave a charming smile. “At least, I was able to do something like this at my age,” she said.
Kaalichothy was spotted by a literacy prerak a couple of years ago while looking for potential beneficiaries for literacy programmes at a worksite of the employment guarantee programme. Her daughter was working there, and Kaalichothy happened to be around.
“We enlisted her after she evinced interest in the literacy programme. She could not attend classes owing to her frail health, and we used to teach her during our field trips. She may go further if heath permits,” said Suma Raveendran, literacy prerak for Kumbalam panchayat.
Kaalichothy was among the 108 candidates who took the Standard 4 equivalent exam in Ernakulam district on Saturday. Among them were 89 women, 44 from SC communities, a tribesperson, and three differently abled persons.
The Standard 7 equivalent exam, which was conducted alongside, was taken by 107 persons, including 58 women, 23 SC members, and eight differently-abled persons. Among the candidates, 68-year-old Thankamma who took the exam at a centre at Piravom was the oldest.
It was the 14th batch of the Standard 4 equivalent course and the 15th batch of the Standard 7 equivalent course in the district.
“There was a drop in the number of candidates owing to the pandemic. However, unlike previous years when people who had enrolled for the programme just out of fancy for the certificate, the ones who took the exam this time actually needed it either for getting promotions or were so driven to learn and go to the next level,” said Deepa James, district coordinator, District Literacy Mission.
Enrollment for new batches of various equivalent programmes is under way with May 31 being the last day.
