If all goes as planned, not only will people above 15 years of age, who have been deprived of formal education, be literate in three months but also learn skills to earn livelihood. NFEC has been currently holding discussions with various stakeholders toward that end. [break]
In the third year of the campaign scheduled to kick-start on February 13, 2011, participants of the literacy classes will get various short-term vocational trainings in fields such as animal husbandry, horticulture, bee-keeping, among others.
“The sole objective of the campaign till last year was only to make people able to read and write simple letters,” says Jibachh Mishra, director of NFEC. “Our objective has now become a little bit wider. We want the people who learn alphabets through literacy classes fight poverty.”
However, a recent statement by one of the members of National Planning Commission (NPC) vis-à-vis the government´s investment in the literacy campaign has given NFEC´s plan a serious jolt.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the “dismal outcome” of the campaign, NPC member Dr Tirtha Khaniya had said that the government would cut down the budget for the next campaign.
“With the expansion of the campaign, per person cost, which stands at Rs 600 now, is sure to go up in the new campaign,” NFEC director Mishra said. NFEC is a bit perturbed with Dr Khaniya´s statement. However, Mishra says, “NPC has not told us anything about it as of now. We hope that is not the case.”
NFEC recently held talks with Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) and Council for Technical Education and Vocational Trainings (CTEVT) in a bid to arrange funds in case the government cuts down the budget.
“We think empowering literate people with skills helps them get rid of poverty,” Mishra says. “This is where PAF, we believe, can join hands with us.”
New target
NFEC has set a new target of making 1.7 million people literate in the third year of the campaign. NFEC has sought Rs 1.5 billion from the government to execute new phase of the campaign. NFEC has claimed to have made over one million people literate, about 200,000 short of its set target.
Related story
NMB, NBI join hands for financial literacy program
