Kerala Became First State to Achieve 100% Primary Education in the Country

Kerala, which is one of the southern coastal states, has been declared as the first state to have 100% primary education in the country. The official declaration will be made by the Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

According to the education minister of Kerala P K Abdu Rabb , “Kerala has become the first state in the country to achieve total primary education. This has been achieved through the primary educational equivalency drive of the state literacy mission- Athulyam. The equivalency programmes have proved a huge success and the ultimate objective is to achieve total Plus-two education in the state.” The declaration of the same will be made by the vice-president at a function in Kerala University Senate Hall.

The second phase of the Athulyam project was carried out in the state as part of the Mission 676 of the government, which was initiated to mark its third anniversary. Under the programme the candidates who have not been able to undergo primary education and failed in the primary classes, have been given another chance to achieve educational qualification equivalent to fourth standard. Under the programme people from 15 to 50 years took part and were identified through family registries prepared by the anganwadis under the social justice department and ward-level surveys carried out by instructors in continuing education programmes.

The fourth standard equivalency examination was taken up by almost 2.6 lakh candidates in June 2015, of which 2.2 lakh candidates qualified. The examination took place on 6613 centres across the state. Students who scored 30 out of 75 marks in English and 20 out of 50 marks in other subjects, were termed qualified for the examination.