Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority trains instructors ahead of pilot in Perumbavoor

With its pilot literacy programme aimed at migrants set to get under way in Perumbavoor next month, the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA) conducted a training session for instructors at MES College in the municipality on Saturday.

The session focused on the programme implementation and the conduct of classes. Perumbavoor municipal chairperson Sathi Jayakrishnan inaugurated the training programmed attended by 34 instructors from the college.

The training will be followed by a meeting of instructors and ward councillors aimed at the formation of ward committees and facilitation committees with public participation for the successful organisation of study centres in each ward.

One centre will be assigned for the literacy programme in each of the 27 wards in the municipality. Flexible class timings had been fixed after 6 p.m. and during weekends so that migrants can turn for sessions without affecting their work.

The literacy programme aimed at making migrant workers in the municipality literate in Malayalam and Hindi in four months. Classes will be held for a minimum of five hours in a week. Five to ten study centres of 15-20 participants will be organised under KSLMA’s Continuing Education Centres (CEC) within the municipality.

CEC Preraks will double up as study centre coordinators. Each study centre will be put under the charge of an instructor proficient in Malayalam and Hindi.

Qualified persons among the migrants will also be used for the purpose. Participants of KSLMA’s higher secondary equivalent courses will also chip in with their service. CECs, libraries, schools, public places, work sites, and shelters of migrant workers would serve as study centres.

Trial class held

The training programme was held a fortnight after the KSLMA conducted a trial classroom session in the municipality, which evoked very positive response. Forty-four migrants turned up for the session.

Textbook

A sole textbook had been prepared for the literacy programme and it featured 25 lessons based on the real-life situations encountered by migrants here.

The lessons cover topics like health care, market, hotel, travel, and work.

The draft of the syllabus will be finalised based on deliberations with teachers within the municipal limits, socio-cultural activists, and those who interacted constantly with the migrants.

The syllabus was drawn up based on multiple rounds of consultations with experts in the language of migrants and academicians. Shortcoming found during the pilot project will also be ironed out before the State-wide rollout at the end of the pilot project in Perumbavoor.