TIRUCHY: More than 60,000 adults in Tiruchy district have acquired basic literacy skills under the New Bharat Literacy Programme during the 2025-2026 academic year, prompting the Directorate of Non-Formal and Adult Education to recognise the district's performance at a state-level award function scheduled for January 20, 2026.
The function will be chaired by the Minister for School Education, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi.
According to officials of the Directorate, Tiruchy crossed the 50,000-beneficiary benchmark through an extensive network of literacy centres operated largely in government schools.
During the current academic year, the programme was implemented through 1,178 centres in the first batch and 1,627 centres in the second batch, benefiting a total of 60,023 adult learners, based on provisional data till December 2025. At the event, 12 Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) from across Tamil Nadu will be honoured for ensuring literacy education for over 50,000 learners each.
Tiruchy CEO K Krishnapriya is among the awardees. In addition, 27 grassroots-level functionaries from Tiruchy district - including nine headmasters (HMs), nine Block Resource Teacher Educators (BRTEs) and nine volunteers - will receive awards for their role in implementation and monitoring.
The selection was made using 12 performance criteria, including school and classroom environment, learner enrolment and average attendance, community monitoring mechanisms, school management community participation, and volunteer involvement.
Officials said strong volunteer coordination from the initial stages helped sustain attendance, particularly in rural areas. Awards will also be presented to three school-based literacy centres for each academic year from 2023-2024, 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
From Tiruchy, nine school centres have been selected across these years -- two from Manapparai block, and others from Manachanallur, Uppiliyapuram, Pullambadi, Lalgudi, Vaiyampatti, and Thottiyam, including one corporation primary school. A headmaster of a government school in Manapparai block, set to receive the award, said mobilising adult learners was initially challenging.
"Most learners were daily wage workers. With the support of volunteers, we went door to door and fixed classes after work hours. Once they realised literacy helped them read notices, sign documents, and assist their children, attendance improved," the headmaster said. Official records show a steady expansion of the programme in Tiruchy, with 15,451 learners in 2023-2024, 13,033 in 2024-2025, and a sharp rise in 2025-2026, reflecting growing acceptance of adult education at the community level.