Kerala   

Kasaragod wins literacy award

KASARAGOD: Positioned 11th among the 14 districts in the State regarding literacy rate, achievements of Kasaragod on the literacy front might not seem impressive at first.

But the innovative programmes being drafted and implemented here by the district literacy mission had won it the Satyan Maitre Award 2006 of the National Literacy Mission for implementing literacy and continuous literacy programmes in the best manner among various districts in the country.

District panchayat president M.V. Balakrishnan, who announced this at a press conference here on Friday, said the district was selected from among 300 districts in the whole country. Of them, six districts were short listed for their outstanding achievements and experts from National Literacy Mission visited those districts and made assessment of their achievements, Mr. Balakrishnan said. Kasaragod emerged on top based on its efforts to provide a new dimension to the concept of informal education which had no parallel in the country, he added.

Mr. Balakrishnan noted that the main aspects of the continuous literacy programme in the district included the emphasis on creation of various technical skills among participants apart from imparting knowledge of three Rs and the importance given for the overall development of participants. Another feature of the programme here was the close support given to it by the local bodies, the president said.

The work had also improved the literacy rate of the district, he said. The district, which was earlier positioned 13th among various districts in the State regarding literacy rate, had bettered its position to 11, Mr. Balakrishnan noted. Delineating the works implemented under the programme, Mr. Balakrishnan noted that several programmes were held to create awareness on Right to Information Act. Identification, reclamation and preservation of manuscripts in the district were done as a part of the work of literacy mission, he said.

Art festivals of workers and participants of continuous literacy programme were held at village, block and municipal levels here for the first time in the State, the district panchayat president said. Mr. Balakrishnan added that special encouragement was also given for the continuous education of widows and self help societies of widows were formed for the first time in the State.

Mr. Balakrishnan noted that district had undertaken several efforts on the conventional education sector also which were unprecedented in the State.

A programme named ‘Unarvu’ was being implemented in the district to improve the standard of education at various levels. A pre-primary syllabus was launched in the district for the first time in the State, he said. A hand book published for teachers and an improved school calendar were contributions of the district to education in the state, he said.

President Pratibha Patil would present the award to the district literacy mission at a function at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on September 8, said Mr. Balakrishan. The award includes a citation, certificate and a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh, the district panchayat president said.

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