Tamilnadu Corporation for Development of Women Ltd

Illiteracy is both the cause and consequence of poverty, deprivation and under development. Basic education and literacy only can help develop an individual and a community.

Literacy is not merely about basic skills of reading and writing. It is about providing individuals with the capabilities for understanding their lives, social environment and equipping them with problem solving skills. Literacy is therefore a foundation for human resources development and is critical in alleviating poverty and enhancing the quality of life.

Education of women not only has a tremendous impact on their own development but also on that of their families and communities.

In Tamil Nadu, under Mahalir Thittam as on 30.03.2007, there are about 3,37,744 Self Help Groups, out of which 2,73,255 are in rural areas with nearly 44,26,731 rural women as members.

Reports have been received from the Project Officers and field level functionaries that nearly 40 % of the rural women in these SHGs are illiterate. Many of the women know only to affix their signature and don’t know to even read or write Tamil.

They depend on their animators and NGO Cluster Co-ordinators for bank transactions and other activities of the groups like savings, meetings, credits etc., They are not provided with even basic information relating to the activities of the group simply because they are illiterate. Hence they are not confident and at a loss for information. They have to depend on someone for guidance and information at every level. Many women SHG members do not even know that the animators have to be changed once in two years on rotation basis and are ignorant of several issues relating to the group and their families.

Real empowerment has not taken place as illiteracy has been a stumbling block in the actual empowerment of the women. The main objectives of Mahalir Thittam are Social, Economic and Political Empowerment and to achieve this, education is crucial. Educated women can recognize the importance of health care and know how to seek it for themselves and their children. Education helps girls and women to know their rights and to gain confidence to claim them.

The Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj has announced on the floor of the Legislative Assembly on 12.04.2007 that a Literacy Programme for SHGs will be started during the Financial Year 2007 – 08 at a total cost of Rs. 1.75 Crores.

The Literacy Programme for SHGs will be implemented as a new scheme along with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of Education Department on a pilot basis in 1000 panchayats, in the year 2007-08.

Selection of Panchayats

4000 panchayats which received the PLF Seed Money for the year 2006-07 will be taken into consideration for implementation of the literacy programme for SHGs in the first phase.
A baseline information on details of the number of literates / illiterates in SHGs, in each panchayat will be collected by the PLF.
The willingness of the PLF will be taken into consideration to execute the literacy programme in the Panchayat.
Out of these, 1000 panchayats will be selected to implement the scheme as a Pilot Project.

Selection of volunteers to teach in the Literacy Programme for SHGs

The PLF will identify 2 volunteers from each panchayat who will teach the members.
The selection of the volunteers will be based on the educational qualifications and willingness of the individual to work under this programme.
The candidate should have passed Std XII and preferably selected from among SHG members.
Each volunteer will teach upto 25 illiterate members from each panchayat.
Initially 5 volunteers will be selected by the PLF based on the eligibility criteria preferably from among the SHG members themselves.
Then the teachers from the Block Resource Centre of SSA will screen, short list and identify 2 volunteers out of the 5 volunteers.
The 2 selected volunteers will be given training on activity based learning methodology by SSA for 15 days through Block Resource Centres (BRC).
Course content
The material prepared by SSA for their activity based learning methodology in elementary schools will be used for this training.
The selected volunteers will take classes in the evenings for the illiterate women in the School building or SHG building.
The members will be taught basic Maths and to read and write Tamil.

Proposed Expenditure for the Literacy Programme for SHGs

Rs.400/- will be given as honorarium every month for each volunteer for one year by the concerned Panchayat level federation. However the mode of release may be suitably regulated so that it is performance based.
At the end of 6 months and 12 months, a Mid Term Evaluation and end of project evaluation will be made by SSA, to assess the impact of the training.
Training materials at a cost of Rs.3,000/- will be given to each volunteer in the panchayat as support material to conduct literacy classes for the women.
Rs.160/- per month will be given to the PLF as organizational cost from which materials like chalk, paper, note books, charts etc., can be bought for the implementation of the programme.