2 elderly Kerala women & their daughters take literacy exam together

Thiruvananthapuram: An examination centre in Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram was witness to a heartening scene as two septuagenarian women wrote the Saksharatha (literacy) exam along with their children, who were in their 50s.

Leela, 79, along with her daughter Bhavana, 59; and Rajamma,79, with her daughter Vasanthi, 59, wrote the exam at the Kanyarnada community hall at Pachalloor in Thiruvananthapuram.

Now, Leela and Rajammal, both from Pachalloor, want to clear the class 4 exam. Their daughters are also do not to be left behind and want to study as much as possible.

The literacy classes that were started in March culminated with the exam on Monday.

The exam was conducted at 74 wards in the city on Sunday as part of the Aksharasree literacy programme, which is jointly conducted by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority and the corporation.

The programme aims to identify illiterates and help them pursue education or equivalency courses.

Eighty-five-year-old Rajammal, who took the exam at the Thiruvallam BNV Higher Secondary School, was the senior-most student. Tasleema, 21, who wrote the exam at the Perunthanni Kudumbashree centre, was the youngest. As many as 2,050 candidates wrote the exam on Monday.

Another elderly woman, Sumathiyammal, said that she had prepared well and wrote the exam effortlessly. Clutching on to the question paper, the 84-year-old said that age was never an obstacle in her pursuit for education.

Sumathiyammal of Punchakkari had written the exam at the centre near her house.

Eighty-three-year-old Subadramma, who wrote the exam at the Abraham Memorial Union Library at Thrikkannapuram, wants to next clear the equivalency courses after clearing the Saksharatha exam.

The exam called Mikavulsavam would test the candidate on reading, writing and mathematics. The candidate needs to secure 30 marks out of 100 to clear the exam. The pass mark for each category - 9 marks out of 30 for reading, 12 marks out of 40 for writing, and 9 marks out of 30 for mathematics.

As Vattiyoorkavu is set to go to the polls soon, the exam for the 697 candidates in the constituency would be conducted later.