Teaching the three R's to migrant workers may be easier said than done
KOCHI: Amid the hype surrounding the ambitious programme to drum in the basic learning skills in migrant workers to handle both Hindi and Malayalam, the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA) has woken up to the realisation it will be a tall task to set up literacy classes in migrant labourer settlements.Mainly, it is the unhygienic living conditions of migrant workers which has put paid to KSLMA's plans to reach out to the target audience.
Though the mission's plan was to set up as many as 50 literacy classes in different parts of Perumbavoor municipality area to educate migrants, they have been able to start only 17 classes so far. "Our plan was to conduct over 50 literary classes at Anganwadis, worksites, madrasas and migrant worker settlements. But the unhygienic living conditions of migrants stopped us from conducting the classes. Even their working conditions do not allow us to go ahead with the classes since many of them work in different shifts," said a KSLMA source.
According to the KSLMA survey, 86.24 per cent of the 1,701 migrant workers residing in the municipality had expressed the desire to attend literacy classes. But as per the mission's latest figures, only 450 members turned up. "The floating population is a major concern for us regarding the plans to expand the programme. Moreover, most of the migrant workers are working on different shifts and it's difficult for us to get all of them in one or two classes.
To overcome this, we have started conducting the classes at worksites. For this, we have already held talks with their employers and they are game to the idea," said Sreejan P V, District Assistant Coordinator.
Nonetheless, the classes have elicited an encouraging response from the migrants as many of them have started learning the languages in a serious manner. " This will prove a successful project in the future as several of them have already started attending the classes. Despite Sunday being a holiday, they evinced interest and it's a positive development," Sreejan said.