State wide literacy drive survey to start on May 1

CHENNAI: In a bid to attain a 100 per cent literacy rate, the Tamil Nadu government will be undertaking a state-wide survey on May 1 to find adult illiterates in the age group of 15 years and above.

Accordingly, the Directorate of Non-formal and Adult Education is in the process of appointing volunteers who will be surveying the State in May this year.

Stating that women will be given priority in volunteers’ selection, a senior official from the Directorate told DT Next that besides women, NGOs, students, who were involved in National Social Service (NSS) and National Cadet Corps (NCC), retired teachers and qualified transgenders. will also be selected as volunteers.

The survey will help in providing basic literacy, basic education, vocational education, and life-long learning to illiterate adults above the age of 15 through the “Puthiya Bharatha Ezhutharivu Thittam”, whereby leading to the achievement of total literacy in the state.

“Though the volunteers will not be paid, the state government will provide them with a certificate of appreciation”, he said adding the volunteers would be identified by the School Management Committee (SMC), comprising teachers, parents, and local body leaders, and members of parents teachers association”.

Stating that the government has allocated Rs13.42 crore for the directorate this year, he said, “The identified volunteers would be registered in the Education Management Information System (EMIS), a common online platform connecting schools, government, and students, by the headmasters of government and its aided primary and middle schools”.

Pointing out that the survey would be conducted from May 1 and would be completed before or on May 24, he said “A circular in this regard was already issued to all the district educational officers”. The official said all the volunteers will also be given short training on how to identify illiterate adults above the age of 15.

“Each volunteer would have to fill a form in a prescribed format while identifying each illiterate person”, he said adding all the forms would be scrutinized and would be registered under “Puthiya Bharatha Ezhutharivu Thittam”.

The survey will be completed on or before May 24, according to the DNFEA