The coming month promises to throw up a watershed moment in the lives of over 2,000 Adivasis across the State.
They will be appearing for an exam for the first time in their lives on November 25, thanks to Samagra, a novel literacy project launched by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA) with the support of the Scheduled Tribes Development Department.
Palakkad tops list
Passing the examination for the first batch under the project will lead to 2,179 Adivasis, 1,600 of whom are women, qualifying as literate. Palakkad, where 522 have registered for the exam, tops the list in terms of number of candidates.
The programme was introduced in March this year in 100 tribal hamlets, identified by the Scheduled Tribe Development Department as the most illiterate. The aim was to eradicate illiteracy among tribes and encourage them to pursue continuous education programmes of the KSLMA.
The programme is being run in 25 tribal hamlets each in Wayanad and Palakkad; 15 in Idukki; five each in Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, and Kasaragod; seven in Malappuram; three each in Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode; and in two tribal hamlets each in Thrissur and Kollam districts.
“Those clearing the literacy course will be encouraged to pursue the equivalent courses offered as part of our continuous education programme,” said P.S. Sreekala, Director, KSLMA.
Instructors
One instructor each was deployed in each of the 100 tribal hamlets where Samagra was launched. Tribal community members with a minimum of Class 10 pass were appointed as instructors after interviews.
Apart from Samagra, the KSLMA runs two other tribal-specific literacy and continuous education programme at Attappady and in Wayanad.
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