For 40-year-old Mani Raman of Koil Poraiyur hamlet in Villupuram, receiving a certificate from Governor K. Rosaiah was the proudest moment of her life. The efforts of the last one year had borne fruit, and now she was one of the few women of her generation in her village who could read and write.
Until recently, she was a farm labourer. “Last year, I decided that I needed to study so I could manage basic tasks such as managing accounts at home without depending on my husband,” she said. That was when she enrolled in the adult education programme conducted by the State Literary Mission Authority.
On Monday, she received her pass certificate from Mr. Rosiah, with an ‘A’ grade in reading, ‘B’ in writing and ‘A’ in arithmetic at the International Literacy Day celebrations organised by the State Resource Centre for the National Literacy Mission and State Literacy Mission Authority.
Speaking at the event, D. Sabitha, secretary for School Education said that the State Resource Centre had set up adult literacy programmes in nine districts and 17.93 lakh neo-literates had been trained in these districts.
“In the period between 2011-12 and 2014-15, 15.25 lakh people have been identified for receiving education. Of these, 10.66 lakh are women,” she said.
On the day, the Governor released a poster on International Literacy Day, the in-house journal of the SRC and inaugurated a pilot project on literacy and vocational skills for transgender persons in Erode, Salem, Villupuram and Dharmapuri.
Sugata Roy, communication specialist for UNICEF, V. Balaji, director, SRC and Pooja Kulkarni, State project director, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Tamil Nadu, were also present.
