CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Non-Formal and Adult Education has written to the chief education officers to identify volunteers and form learning centres for the New India Literacy Programme (NILP). Under the programme, which will be conducted from 2022 to 2027, more than five lakh people over the age of 15 will be taught to read and write in the first year.
The programme will be conducted by volunteers entirely. Persons over 15 who don’t know to read or write would be identified with the help of students by asking them about their parents and relatives and records like MNREGA register and documents maintained by industries, among others.
As far as volunteers are concerned, they would have studied till Class 10 or above. Interested persons among School Management Committee members, school and college students, Illam Thedi Kalvi Volunteers, Nehru Yuva Kendra volunteers and others can be chosen. The volunteers should work for a minimum of six months, said the circular.
The government and aided schools in the locality can be learning centres and teaching can also be done at the MGNREGA workplace or on the premises of industries. A total of 200 hours—two hours per working day—of teaching should be done in six months. The details of the learning centres and volunteers should be maintained properly.
Chief education officers (CEO), district institute of education and training principals, district education officials, assistant project officers and assistant district project coordinators will inspect the centres. The CEO should submit a monthly report of the inspection, said the guidelines.
A total of 3.19 lakh people were educated under the ‘Karpom, Ezhuthuvom’ scheme that was conducted from 2020-22 under the Centre-State partnership of 60:40.