KOCHI: In a bid to offer more opportunities for Tamil migrant labourers, the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority is all set to introduce tenth equivalent examination in Tamil for the next batch. The course is likely to commence in June. It is the presence of Tamil migrant labourers in many districts that spurred the mission to launch a Tamil equivalent exam. Last year, the mission had launched Kannada medium tenth equivalent course in Kasargod owing to a huge demand.In Ernakulam, many Tamil migrants have expressed interest in doing the course. “A large number of Tamils who have completed standard VII and keen on getting standard X equivalent certificate have contacted the respective ‘preraks’, especially from Pathalam where there is a huge Tamil population. There are quite a few Tamil migrants at Muvattupuzha and Kothamangalam too,” said Mission district coordinator Ratheesh. “A few who have completed standard VII in Tamil Nadu have approached me to do tenth equivalent as they can explore bigger avenues with a tenth certificate,” said Sini, a prerak at Pathalam who is set for the awareness campaign. The State Council of Education Research and Training, which designs the Malayalam textbook, will bring out the Tamil version too. “The books are designed on andragogy. We have reformed the syllabus which was the same for the past seven batches. Though the contents are equivalent to that of class X, the form is tuned for adult minds,” he said. The seventh batch will have Tamil medium also. The mission is conducting the programme by coordinating with the district panchayat which helps in identifying the migrants. The contact classes are usually held in government and aided schools on public holidays, Saturday and Sunday from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. They will have access to school labs and IT would be a compulsory subject. Generally, it is the school teachers who impart education and all teachers undergo a training session in andragogy. “Tamil teachers are being identified and they have to be trained. We hold classes in 38 schools in the district. We have to deal with two sections, one who are determined to get the certificate and the other who require coercion. The mission offers standard IV, standard VII and standard VII equivalent certificates and offers a certificate course for the illiterate. On Bengali and Hindi medium of tenth equivalent, Ratheesh said that when the project was conceived, the majority of the migrant labourers were from Tamil Nadu. “Moreover, surveys have not been conducted on literacy of migrants from the North,” he added.
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