Kerala Govt ropes in tribals as instructors for literacy drive

Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when social development of the tribal population still a cause of worry, the Kerala government is gearing up to impact a change in their lives through a comprehensive literacy programme.

Instead of appointing outsiders as teachers, tribals, with minimum qualifications, would be roped in as 'instructors' after given them expert training. The trained persons would play the role of instructors under the Kerala Literacy Mission in their respective settlements and impart training to their fellow people there, official sources said. As many as 370 tribal instructors, including those handpicked from 100 most educationally-backward hamlets across the state, would took part in the 'social literacy training' programme to be held here this week end.

The Mission's 'preraks' (instructors), deployed in Attappady in Palakkad district and settlements in Wayanad would also be among participants for the training, they said. CM Pinarayi Vijayan would inaugurate the two-day drive here at a function on March 24. It is for first time in the history of the state education sector that tribals themselves have been roped in as instructors to bring their fellow beings under the government's literacy programme, a top Mission official said.