As the State attempts to get its literacy campaign back on track, a survey undertaken by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority, as part of the Aksharalaksham project to bridge the literacy gap, has found as many as 47,241 illiterates.
The survey found the maximum number of illiterates in Palakkad at 10,348, and the least in Pathanamthitta at 434. The project has been launched with the objective of achieving numerical 100 per cent literacy in the State.
In the first phase of the project, the survey was held in wards where the 2,086 continuing learning centres of the mission are located (there are totally 21,908 wards in the State). The survey found that the number of illiterates in the 6 to 15 age group was 892. In the 16 to 30 age group, it was 1,340. There was a huge increase in the number of illiterates in the 31 to 50 age group to 9,326. The figure rose steeply to 35,683 illiterates in the 51 to 75 age group.
Survey details were collected from 14,23,667 people by volunteers who went door to door in these wards. Focus was on people in the six to 75 age group.
The number of illiterates in the 16 to 75 age group, the target group of the project, is 46,349. On Republic Day, January 26, literacy classes will begin for these people in the 2,086 wards by reciting aloud the Preamble to the Constitution.
After 100 hours of instruction, examinations will be held in the first week of April. The mission plans to hold total literacy announcements in the wards on April 18.
The second phase of Aksharalaksham will be implemented in one local body in each district.
Dropouts
Details of school dropouts were also collected as part of the survey. A questionnaire to determine the reason for dropping out of school was included. It covered aspects such as lack of schools nearby, financial constraints, health problems, bad experiences in school, parents’ reluctance, and other such reasons. A detailed report on the reasons for dropouts would be submitted to the government soon, Literacy Mission Director P.S. Sreekala said.
Though the State has achieved total literacy as per UNESCO norms, the 2011 Census revealed 18 lakh illiterates in the State. Aksharalaksham aims at making these people literate in phases.
