Failure of instituting JSS leaves out 2 districts from reaping benefit
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, January 29 2015 : The failure of instituting the mandatory Jan Shiksha Sansthan (JSS) or the Literacy Mission Authority has left out two districts of Manipur, out of four selected, to reap the benefit of the ambitious Saakshar Bharat Mission or National Literacy Mission of the Government of India.

According to information received by Hueiyen Lanpao, under the National Policy on Education-1986, the Department of School Education and Literacy which is under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India announced implementation of Saakshar Bharat in 2009 as a scheme to support voluntary agencies in imparting adult education & skill development.

The Mission was launched in Manipur in 2010 after a survey conducted on the population of non-literate, neo-literate, as well as school drop-outs in the State.

The survey found out that the number of literate women in Chandel, Thoubal, Tamenglong and Senapati was below 50 percent of the total population in these four districts.

Consequently, the State Government decided to implement the scheme in these four districts along with formation of the State Literacy Mission Authority under the supervision of Directorate of Adult Education.

After launching of the scheme, State Literacy Mission Authority conducted test periodically to assess the level of education imparted.

By March, 2014, there were in all 69,707 people including 11,023 in Chandel, 32,668 in Thoubal, 9,969 in Tamenglong and 16,047 in Senapati districts, who cleared the test in the four districts and certificates were distributed to them.

Those who could not pass the test were also allowed to continue their education.

There are 321 Adult Education Centres in the four selected districts.

These include 64 in Thoubal, 59 in Chandel, 142 in Senapati and 56 in Tamenglong.

With skill development through vocational education being a vital component of this scheme, it is essential to institute Jan Shiksha Sansthan or Literacy Mission Authority in each of the districts covered by the scheme for its successful implementation.

However, while imparting of vocational education has been already started to the people who cleared the test of basic education in Thoubal and Senapati districts, failure on the part of the State Government to set up Jan Shiksha Sansthan or Literacy Mission Authority in Chandel and Tamenglong district has left out the newly literate people in these two districts from reaping the benefit of the scheme.

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