From Paris to study states literacy model

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Literacy activities in the state might have slowed down. But it still keeps outsiders fascinated. A 15-member team from Paris, who visited the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority here, was of the opinion that the literacy model followed by the state was worthy of international accolades.It was the faculty members and students of the Ecole Active Bilingue International School in Paris who were in the capital to learn the various benchmarks of ‘Kerala Model’ development. The team was led by Barry D’Souza, a faculty in History in the school, and Marri-Claude Ford.“Among the developing countries, India has set a rare model which could be adopted by everyone,” was his response after going through the activities of the Mission.The Mission officials, led by C Alassankutty, director of KSLMA, described the working of the Literacy Model in the state, how it began as a rage and as a common cause in the 1990s, how it accomplished its initial targets, how it has evolv  ed over the years and its present working pattern. Assistant Director of Literacy Mission K Soman presented a brief history of the Mission and its activities. After which, the team showered the officials with queries.Their prime doubt remained the status and role of the Mission now that the state has been hailed as a total literate state. “We have set new target groups and are devising plans to make a change in their lives,”  Alassankutty said.The team had high school and lower graduate students, both boys and girls, who were in the state to learn about the successful Kerala models, including Kudumbashree, Women’s Commission and so on.“We had told them earlier that literacy activities was everyone’s business, which was why it reaped success the way it did. The team was of the opinion that throughout the country they had not witnessed anything similar to this movement,” said Alassankutty.