Thiruvananthapuram: The state toppers in various examinations conducted by Kerala State Literacy Mission were felicitated by education minister C Raveendranath with medals and certificates in an event which was jointly organized by Kerala Literacy Mission and Human Rights Protection Council on Monday. 42 persons were felicitated at the function.The minister said education was a continuing process which pushes one to investigate and ask questions. “Only when we start questioning will more questions come to our mind. Simply going through the constitution of India will not raise any doubts but when we start understanding the idea behind things, more questions arise and eventually we learn more. Only then will the objective of Literacy Mission to achieve 100% literacy be complete,” said Raveendranath.Odisha resident Mudadh Revathi makes it a point to speak in Malayalam. She is proud to flaunt a language she has picked up in less than a year.Revathi is among the top five who have scored full marks in the Kerala State Literacy Missions revamped exams held as Mikavuthsavam.Revathi, who is employed with a private firm at KINFRA, was part of the Changathi project of literacy mission meant for migrant labourers. She says she wants to learn more Malayalam.“I never thought I would score 100 marks. There were many tense days after the examination was over. When the result finally came, I was very happy,” she said. The 22-year-old has a younger brother who is studying engineering in Pune.Equally excited is 90-year-old Mythili from Kuriyadi, Kozhikode who also scored full marks in the Aksharasagaram exams. “I was happy that I got an opportunity to study and I am much happier with the result. In our younger years, we only had to depend on the sea, now it is time to concentrate on studies as well for the people from the coasts,” she said.Kerala State Literacy Mission director Sreelekha P S said there were many people who were still illiterate among the tribal and coastal communities. “Although programmes like Samagra, implemented among the tribal region, Aksharalaksham for the coastal communities, Navachethana for the scheduled communities and Changathi which intends to make migrant laborers literate have made significant progress, there are still around 20% illiterates among the tribes and 10% in the coastal areas. Around 90% of the migrant laborers still don’t know to read or write in their mother tongue. We are happy that our programmes have helped many of them to take up pens and books,” she said.Until last year, the examinations followed a pattern of written exam (40 marks), reading (30 marks) and mathematics (30 marks). The new scheme includes all the sections but the difference is that instead of written exams, the students were divided into groups and asked to complete tasks related to writing, reading and mathematics which they have to finish within stipulated time. Justice Antony Dominic chaired a session on Citizen Rights after the felicitation ceremony.

Stay updated with all the Latest Thiruvananthapuram headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.