Bastar: Last Sunday, a special examination was organized for illiterate villagers under the literacy campaign by the district administration in Bastar district. According to the administration, around 36,000 people participated in it across the district. The objective of this campaign is to teach reading and writing to those villagers who till now have been deprived of school education. To make the campaign successful, examination centers were set up in every village, so that more and more people could participate in it.
However, questions were raised on the transparency of this campaign when a very worrying case came to light from the examination center of the primary school located in Mundapal. When the Local 18 team reached there, it was found that instead of actual illiterate villagers, the answer sheets were being filled by school children.
trying to complete the figures
When the team talked to the children, they told that the teacher had called them to take the exam. This examination was originally conducted for those villagers who do not know how to read and write. It is alleged that an attempt was being made to complete the figures by making the children write the papers first. After seeing the media team, the teacher in charge called the villagers and made them sit and were given answer sheets.
Villager Dharamu told that he never went to school. If there was proper system of education, they too could study and write. Whereas Rukmani said that she does not know how to read, she will write as much as she can.
exams on paper
It is being told that earlier in 7-8 villages, preraks (education volunteers) were appointed to teach illiterate people, due to which the interest in learning increased among the villagers. But later these motivators were removed by the government, after which the literacy campaign almost came to a standstill in the villages. It is alleged that now the data is being filled by conducting examinations only on paper.
The administration claims that in some villages, 200 hours of education was conducted by volunteers, but the ground reality is said to be different. After this whole matter came to light, serious questions have been raised on the fairness and credibility of the Literacy Campaign. Whether this is mere negligence of lower level officials or a planned attempt to increase the figures, is a matter of investigation. Now it remains to be seen what action the district administration takes in this matter. The Local 18 team tried to contact the District Education Officer for two consecutive days to know his side on this issue, but neither received any response from him nor called back.
