At 90, this Kerala tribal woman appears for exam

When 90-year-old Maakka wrote her first examination at her hamlet in Wayanad recently, little did she know that she was becoming part of a” literacy programme that may bring revolutionary changes in the life of tribals in Kerala.

The nonagenarian, a native of Ambalakkunnu settlement at Muppainad, was one among over 4,500 neo-literates who had written the literacy exam, organised by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority, in Wayanad district earlier this week.

While Maakka was the oldest among the tribals who had appeared for the exam, Lakshmi, a 16-year-old girl from

Charalkkunnu settlement was the youngest to be part of the test conducted in three modules — reading, writing and

mathematics. Held in 283 hamlets of Wayanad on April 22, the exam was part of a special literacy drive by the Mission to eradicate illiteracy from tribal hamlets of the state and bring the backward group to the mainstream of society.