Literacy mission changes recruitment policy for social literacy schemes
The change is to ensure that the majority of appointments are from marginalised communities.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA) has changed its policy on recruiting instructors for the social literacy schemes to ensure that the majority of appointments are from marginalised communities. Of the total 1,733 instructors, 601 are from adivasis, 222 from fisherfolks, 100 from scheduled caste and eight from transgenders. There are 420 instructors for the Chengathi programme aimed at teaching Malayalam to migrant labourers.
For the Samagra programme to impart literacy to 100 selected adivasi hamlets, all the instructors are adivasis. For the special literacy programme for 283 adivasi hamlets, there was a guideline that out of the two instructors for a hamlet, one must be an adivasi. For the special literacy programme for adivasi hamlets in Attapadi region, of the 275 instructors, 218 are adivasis. For the Akshara Sagaram progamme for the fisherfolks in coastal areas in two phases, all the 222 instructors are from the fishermen community.
Eight transgenders have been appointed as part of the Samanwaya programme to give continuing education to transgender persons. The classes are being conducted in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts. Two of the transgenders are teachers and six class coordinators. KSLMA director P.S. Sreekala said that the decision to appoint instructors from the communities was taken because the full benefit can be achieved only if the instructors are from the same communities as that of the beneficiaries.