The Panchayat and SC Department will organise mandatory awareness seminar titled ‘Ayyankali Memorial Talent Search and Development Seminar’ on Saturday at the panchayat seminar hall, said district SC development officer Tomy Chacko.
It is true that compared to any other state, Kerala has achieved a remarkable progress in bringing students from marginalised communities to the educational mainstream.
People hailing from ‘untouchable castes’ in Kerala have achieved many crucial positions in the government and the social realm.
But several study reports and government data point out that compared to the general category, the educational achievements of the SCs and STs are still considerably low.Scholarly studies have reiterated that the main reason for this lag is material deprivation.
It is estimated that with financial liberalisation and resultant developmental process, many of these traditionally deprived sections had to bear an extra brunt to earn their livelihood.
The Ayyankali Memorial Talent Search and Development Scheme, a flagship programme of the state SC department, was formulated to address this gap and to bring SC students to the mainstream.
“This fiscal, we are maximising our effort to increase educational attainments of SC students. We are joining hands with local bodies and other government departments to qualitatively uplift the students,” Tomy said.