Residual lliteracy in a Coastal Village: Poovar village of Thiruvananthapuram district M. K. George, Domi J Discussion Paper No. 45 2002 Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development Centre for Development Studies Thiruvananthapuram Residual illiteracy in a Coastal Village: Poovar Village of Thiruvananthapuram district M. K. George, Domi J English Discussion Paper Rights reserved First published 2002 Editorial Board: Prof. P. R. Gopinathan Nair, H. Shaji Printed at: Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development Published by: Dr K. N. Nair, Programme Co-ordinator, Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development, Centre for Development Studies, Prasanth Nagar, Ulloor, Thiruvananthapuram 695 011 Tel: 0471-2550 465, 2550 427 Fax: 0471-2550 465 E-mail:
[email protected] www.krpcds.org Cover Design: Defacto Creations ISBN No: 81-87621-47-8 Price: Rs 40 US$ 5 KRPLLD 2002 0650 ENG Contents 1. Introduction 5 2. The Background 10 3. Poovar and Its People 17 4. Literacy and Educational Status 24 5. Literacy Campaign (2000-’01), Poovar 32 6. Conclusion 41 References 43 3 Residual Illiteracy in a Coastal Village: Poovar village of Thiruvananthapuram district M. K. George, Domi J* Introduction The State of Kerala hailed by economists and social scientists as a unique example in development, because of its successful performance in the social sectors, particularly health, education, and social welfare, despite its poor per capita domestic income, was declared a totally literate State in 1991. However, this achievement cannot really be claimed in the case of three major categories of the backward sections of the State, i.e., the tribesfolk, the marine fish workers, and the floating Tamil population.