After successfully making nearly 27,000 tribal people literate, the District Literacy Mission Wayanad is getting ready for another ambitious initiative to enrol the tribal people in Kozhikode, Kerala, who missed primary school education for various reasons, to take them to the Class IV equivalency examination. For the scheme to be implemented in a phased manner, 55 Saksharatha Preraks have launched a field-level survey to identify interested candidates, reported The New Indian Express.
The hill district of Kozhikode has the highest tribal population in the state and has already completed two programmes that aim to achieve a 100% badge in tribal literacy. Kerala Literacy Mission District coordinator Soya MK said the total number of illiterate tribal people was 24,472 tribal in the district as per a survey conducted in 2019. "We completed two major missions aimed at making them literate and around 27,000 tribal people have successfully completed the literacy programmes so far, which means the district has already crossed the 100% mark. Now, we are taking efforts to conduct a detailed survey to check if any tribal person is still illiterate before officially declaring the tribal outlets as full literacy," she added.
According to TNIE, the official said that the Literacy Mission is now working towards another major mission to enrol all the tribal persons who have completed the basic literacy programme for the fourth equivalency examination. "As part of this, all tribal people who missed primary school education will be enrolled in the Class IV equivalency examination in a phased manner. In the initial stage, the programme will be executed in selected tribal colonies with the support of respective local bodies. The learners will get books and classes at their colonies free of cost," she added.
The Kerala Literacy Mission had launched two special programmes for tribals in Wayanad. Both schemes addressed gaps in literacy programmes for marginalised people. A total of 27,000 tribal people from over 2,500 colonies will be enrolled for the Class IV equivalency examination.