‘Illam Thedi Kalvi’ scheme likely to continue next year too

CHENNAI: As the learning gap among the schoolchildren have not been filled yet, ‘Illam Thedi Kalvi’ (education at doorsteps), the single largest post-pandemic educational outreach programme in the country is expected to continue next year too.

As per the original plan, the School Education Department had planned to extend the education scheme till this year-end. However, a senior School Education Department official, seeking anonymity, told DT Next that the learning gap among the students from Class 1 to Class 8 due to lack of access to structured education during the pandemic, who dropped out of school during the period was not fulfilled.

“As the ‘Illam Thedi Kalvi’ had already gained momentum, the authorities have decided to improve the components that add to the quality and strength of the programme since the government is committed that all the children in the last mile should be reached out,” he added.

Pointing out that the 1.8 lakh volunteers, who teach more than 30 lakh students under the scheme, will also be further trained, the official said “skill fest, monthly refresher training, volunteer meets, interaction with domain experts and resource persons will be enhanced.”

Stating that at present, the authorities have not fixed any deadline to ‘stall’ the scheme, the official said that the scheme would further strengthen the core mission of enabling a meaningful learning mission, but also will lay a strong foundation for the children to contribute their time meaningfully.

“The existing mobile application has also been enhanced to support the volunteers in rolling out monthly assessments to understand the student’s learning level,” he said adding “an amount of Rs 97 crore has already been spent on this scheme this academic year and further allocation would also be provided for extending the education programme.”

Denying reports that the volunteers, who teach under the ‘Illam Thedi Kalvi’ programme, do not receive their monthly incentives, the official said that the authorities concerned have already ensured that the existing about 1.8 lakh volunteers in the scheme receive their emoluments regularly.