KOCHI: On the 21st anniversary of 100 per cent literacy declaration, the ‘preraks’, the teachers entrusted to undertake literacy classes by the State Literacy Mission, are in a dilemma. Many ‘preraks’, who have played a major role in scripting the success story, are opting out of the profession as the remuneration does not suffice to make ends meet. V Anil, Secretary, Kerala State Prerak Association, said the state had been witnessing a mass dropout of ‘preraks’ owing to the minimal remuneration. “We are getting a meagre honorarium of about Rs 1,500 and for that it took 13 long years. Earlier, it was Rs 300,” he said. For a ‘prerak’ who belongs to CEC (Continuing Education Centre), the pay is Rs 1,500 and a ‘prerak’ belonging to NCES (Nodal Continuing Education Centre), which heads the CECs, gets Rs 2,000. These are the agencies under the State Literacy Mission which undertakes classes for the illiterates.Anil added that the role of a ‘prerak’ is not easy as their job begins at the grassroot-level. “Each ‘prerak’ is bound to do a survey. There are 4th, 7th and 10th equivalent exams. The ‘prerak’ has to find out the beneficiaries and compartmentalise them into required categories. The work becomes strenuous as we move on to the rural areas,” he said. According to the ‘preraks’, their work does not end with conducting classes. Conducting skill development classes is as pivotal as taking classes. “Reading and writing alone will not serve the purpose. They should be empowered enough to undertake jobs that earn them their daily bread,” they said. Besides, they have to organise awareness classes and medical camps. The work timing is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. which prevents them from taking up any part-time jobs. “Though we are struggling to empower the beneficiaries economically, socially and culturally, the government is ignoring us. The government expects us to perform miracles with this limited income. If not for us, it would be impossible to achieve success,” said Anil. Meanwhile, Eldose Kunnappilly, district panchayat president, said he has brought the issue to the attention of the authorities but to no avail. “The state government has been quite inactive with regard to the issue. When a meeting of district panchayat presidents was held, I took up the issue with Minister for Social Welfare and Panchayats M K Muneer,” he said.
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