Shivangi Sharma and Pragya Jain
(16.02.2020)
Language is no longer a bar for 26-year-old Romiya Kathur, as she emerged as the topper in a literacy exam conducted in Kerala for migrant labourers. Romiya, who hails from a humble village in Bihar, aces the examination held by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority by scoring a perfect 100.
P S Sreekala, director of the Mission, visited Kathur at her home in Umayanalloor in southern Kollam district and congratulated her for the rare achievement. The migrant woman expressed her desire to clear the higher secondary equivalency exam conducted by the Mission.
Being a working mother of three, she had written the exam at a local higher secondary school, carrying her four-month-old baby daughter. A whopping total of 1,998 migrant laborers had appeared for the literacy exam in the second phase of the scheme “Changathi” across the state on January 19. Romiya remarked that “Hamari Malayalam”, the textbook prepared for students of the Changathi scheme, had helped her immensely in her everyday conversations and has expressed that she would like for her children to be able to learn the language as well.
Changathi (Friend) project endeavours to teach migrant laborers, living in the state, Malayalam within a span of four months. The project was first materialised in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, the hub of migrant laborers in the state on August 15, 2017.
Over 3,700 migrants, who flocked to the southern state in search of better wages and living conditions, had cleared the exam under the initiative so far in two phases according to the Mission officials.
