THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Already a ‘poster child’ for the Aksharalaksham literacy programme, 96-year-old Karthyayani Amma has set an inspirational example by topping the Kerala State Literacy Mission’s examination with 98 per cent marks. Karthyayani, not surprisingly, was the oldest candidate among the 43,330 who appeared for the literacy examination.
An Alappuzha resident, Karthyayani wrote the examination at the Cheppad Government LP School. And she’s dreaming big. She had enrolled herself in the literacy mission’s programme with the aim of completing her graduation, said a literacy mission officer.
A total of 8,215 members from the SC community and 2,882 from the ST community took up the exam. Around 42,933 candidates passed the exam in the first phase of Aksharalakshyam. Of these candidates around 37,166 candidates are female.
The pass percentage is 99.084. Palakkad district stood first with 10,866 passed candidates, which the capital city came second with 9,412 candidates passing. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the certificate distribution ceremony in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday and hand over the certificate to Karthyayani.