5.10 lakh candidates above 18 years appear for New India Literacy Programme test across TN
With the motive of eradicating illiteracy, the Ministry of Education planned to educate adults and subsequently hold exams to evaluate them
Candidates writing NILP exam in Chennai, on Sunday
CHENNAI: In the assessment for the New India Literacy Programme (NILP) conducted to eradicate illiteracy by the Union government, nearly 5.10 lakh candidates above the age of 18 years appeared for the test across Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
With the motive of eradicating illiteracy, the Ministry of Education planned to educate adults and subsequently hold exams to evaluate them. The government approved the NILP scheme for the financial years 2022-27, by replacing the term ‘adult education’ with ‘education for all’.
Meanwhile, the NILP scheme was floated to cover all key aspects while teaching adults in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP).
As per sources at the TN Education Department and Samagra Shiksha (SS), which together held the exam on Sunday, close to 5.10 lakh candidates (above 18 years) appeared for the exam in 30,113 centres across the State.
Among them, over 4.4 lakh were women candidates and about 1.2 lakh were men. Among 38 districts, Salem recorded the highest turnout with 35,000 candidates appearing for the exam, followed by Krishnagiri district with 32,000 candidates and Tiruvanamalai district with 30,000 candidates, as per data from the department. Likewise, in Chennai, as many as 13,480 candidates sat for the exam in 632 centres. Of them, 10,967 candidates were women and 2,513 candidates were men.
Speaking to DT Next, an official of the department said, “The evaluation of the paper will begin on November 12. Though the Union government has set a deadline of 2027, TN has set a deadline of November 2026 to make all illiterate adults appear for the exam.” With the first phase of the exam currently wrapped up, the second phase of the exam will be conducted in March 2025, the official added.
Explaining further about the nature of the exam and training, the Directorate of Non-Formal (Adult Education) said, “The candidates were tested on reading and writing in Tamil language along with basic arithmetic. Besides that, the candidates were also taught critical life skills from ATM usage and reading bus routes and numbers.”
