Literacy camps open world of words for women in TN
TIRUCHY: From reading bus destination boards to doing everyday market calculations, thousands of women from age 15 to 70 in Tiruchy district are quietly rewriting their lives through the New India Literacy Programme (NILP) 2022-2027, known in Tamil Nadu as the “Puthiya Bharatha Ezhutharivu Thittam.”
District education department data shows that women account for an overwhelming majority of learners enrolled under the scheme since 2023, reflecting how adult literacy efforts are increasingly reaching those left out of formal schooling. In 2025-26, enrolment rose sharply across all 16 blocks of the district, aided by expanded and more targeted outreach.
The first batch in this academic year recorded 22,261 learners, including 18,500 women, while the second batch, which is currently awaiting results for the written exams and is yet to receive their certificates, enrolled 37,762 learners, of whom 31,498 were women. In 2024-25, a single batch saw 11,332 women enrol, while 13,905 women participated in 2023-24.
Summed up, 75,235 women have benefited under NILP in the district over the last three years. Officials said the spike followed systematic mapping of illiterate persons above the age of 15 by the School Education Department. Block Resource Teacher Educators (BRTEs) play a central role in this process, working through headmasters and School Management Committees to identify habitations where basic literacy and numeracy levels are low.
“Each block has a coordinator who, along with teachers, headmasters and college students, conducts door-to-door surveys to identify potential learners,” said NILP District co-ordinator P.Amutha. Volunteers with a minimum qualification of class 12 are then deployed to conduct regular classes in community spaces, anganwadi centres and schools after working hours.
According to officials, this has been most challenging in large and remote blocks such as Marungapuri, Uppiliyapuram, Thathayangarpettai and Manapparai, which have a high concentration of hill hamlets, farm workers, scheduled caste habitations and labour households. Many women learners are first-generation learners who juggle domestic work, wage labour and childcare, making regular attendance difficult.
Despite these hurdles, the impact is visible. “I can now read bus numbers, understand the scrolling destination boards and calculate basic expenses without help,” said Selvi, a 42-year-old construction worker from Uppiliyapuram. Officials say many women can now skim newspaper headlines, read signboards and manage simple financial transactions. Education officials believe the programme’s success among women marks and overall in 2027 the district would soon attain 95% literacy.