KOCHI: As part of expanding its literacy programme to migrant labourers under the ‘Changathi’ project, the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA) will start classes in select panchayats and wards in 13 districts in April.KSLMA director P S Sreekala announced this while inaugurating the evaluation meeting of the classes at Marampally near Perumbavur on Tuesday. “There will be around five to 10 literacy learning centres with 15 to 20 students under each knowledge centres. Instructors fluent in Hindi and Malayalam will be selected for this purpose,” she said.
“The migrants are very much interested in attending the classes as the lessons in ‘Hamari Malayalam’ are related to their daily life and work places,” said Rajewari, a teacher at a learning centre at a plywood factory. In Perumbavur, there are around 480 migrant labourers in 53 classes set up in 27 learning centres. Of the 53 instructors, 43 are students of Marampally MES College.
“The migrant labourers are interested in learning Malayalam. We are taking classes on all Sundays as per their convenience. We try to make the classes as interesting as possible. Our classes are a mix of both Hindi and Malayalam,” said Neethu Raj, a BSc Physics student, who is an instructor at a plywood company at Vallom. Among the students at Perumbavoor municipality, 180 are from Odisha, 120 are from West Bengal, 100 from Bihar and 80 are from Assam.
List of panchayats in the state where classes will begin from April.
1. Thiruvananthapuram - Kazhakkootam ward
2. Kollam - Perinad grama panchayat
3. Pathanamthitta - Koyipram gramapanchayat
4. Alappuzha - Mannanchery grama panchayat
5. Kottayam - Payippad grama panchayat
6. Idukki - Karinkunnam grama panchayat
7. Thrissur - Chavakakd grama panchayat
8. Palakkad - Puthussery grama panchayat
9. Malappuram - Perinthalmanna municipality
10. Kozhikode - Narikkuni grama panchayat
11. Wayanad - Moopainad grama panchayat
12. Kannur - Chirakkal grama panchayat
13. Kasargod - Manjeswaram grama panchayat