Dharmapuri district, which is often shown in poor light, can now have a reason to feel proud of. A hamlet in the district has recorded a hundred percent literacy rate. Every house in this village have at least one teacher in their family.
The overall literacy rate in the district is a not so encouraging 64.71 per cent. However, Makkanoor, a hamlet in the O G Halli panchayat in Papparapatti defies the statistics.
The village of Makkanoor has about 350 households and a total population of 1500. Barring the elder generation, mostly from and before the 70’s, the rest of the population are literate and many have government sector jobs, mostly in the education sector. The 350 households have produced 350 teachers, who work across the state.
M R Gopal (71), a retired teacher of the Makkanoor middle school told Express,
“We owe all the credit to R Subbharao, a freedom fighter and the village schools’ headmaster in the 1950’s for this spectacular achievement.”
Subbharao conducted a relentless awareness campaign in the village, stressing the importance of education in the 1950’s.
“Back then, people didn’t allow girls to attend school. Subbharao knocked the doors of every household, determined to break the practice. After protracted efforts, the parents fell in line,” said Gopal.
“Subbharao (July 07, 1910- July 31, 1995) achieved what the government could not. But the government failed to recognise and honour him,” said.
Taking after him as a role model, all the parents in the village groomed a teacher in their family.
K Arul, a teacher at the Makkanoor primary school said,” Once, Agriculture and livestock rearing were the primary occupations of the villagers. Now every family has a government staff.”