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Age No Bar, Most-Literate Kerala Is Now Also India's 1st State With 100% Primary Education

India's Most Literate State Just Added Another Feather To Its Cap
School children participate in a march called India Marches for Education in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, June 20, 2001. The 12,000 kilometers (7,440 miles) march, which started on Jan. 21, 2001 from Kerala, in southern India and crossed through 20 states of India, was held to spread the message of education for all. It culminated in New Delhi on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
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School children participate in a march called India Marches for Education in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, June 20, 2001. The 12,000 kilometers (7,440 miles) march, which started on Jan. 21, 2001 from Kerala, in southern India and crossed through 20 states of India, was held to spread the message of education for all. It culminated in New Delhi on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Kerala, one of India's most literate states, now also boasts of being the first to achieve 100% primary education, education minister PK Abdu Rabb said.

Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari will make it official on Wednesday during a ceremony at the Kerala University Senate Hall in Thiruvananthapuram, according to reports.

“Kerala has become the first state in the country to achieve total primary education. This has been achieved through the primary education equivalency drive of the state literacy mission — Athulyam. The equivalency programmes have proved a huge success and the ultimate objective is to achieve total Plus-Two education in the state," TOI quoted Rabb as saying.

The second phase of the state literacy mission, Athulyam, offered a chance to those who have missed an opportunity to receive primary education due to various reasons. They could now achieve the education qualification equivalent to fourth standard.

The report said that those between 15 and 50 were beneficiaries of the programme and were identified through family registries prepared by anganwadis under the social justice department.

A 2011 government census put Kerala's literacy rate at 93.91%.

Last year, approximately 2.6 lakh candidates appeared for the 4th standard equivalency examinations in June that were held in over 6,000 centres across Kerala. As many as 2.2 lakh candidates passed the exam.

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