At 86, Anusuya Bai Wadekar sat her first literacy test. She never went to school

Anusuya Bai Wadekar is 86. She lives in Marsavalli, a village in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district of Maharashtra. As a girl she never went to school. This year she sat in a classroom with a pencil in her hand and took a literacy test.

Why she never went to school

Anusuya Bai grew up at a time when many rural families thought school was not necessary for girls. Work and housework came first. For most of her life she could not read or write.

How she learnt

• Her grandson taught her the alphabet at home, one letter at a time.
• Local adult education volunteers then helped her move from letters to simple words and sentences.
• She then took the literacy test held under the Government’s ULLAS adult literacy programme.

According to The Better India, 3,742 people in the region were identified as unable to read and write under the same literacy drive.

What is ULLAS?

ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society), also called the Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram, is the Centre’s adult literacy programme.

• It runs for five years, from 2022 to 2027.
• It is for people aged 15 and above who missed school.
• The target is 5 crore learners, about 1 crore a year.
• Learners who pass the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT) get a certificate signed jointly by NIOS and the Department of School Education and Literacy.
• By November 2024, about 1.65 crore people had registered on the ULLAS portal, and over 68 lakh had passed the test, according to Education Ministry data.
• Ladakh, Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sikkim and Uttarakhand have been declared fully literate under the programme.

Why reading matters at 86

Being able to read changes small, daily things. You can sign your name instead of giving a thumbprint. You can read a medicine label, a bank passbook or a bus number. You can read a phone message yourself, and spot one that looks like a fraud.

Anusuya Bai’s story also shows the role of family. The first teacher was her grandson, at home, with no classroom and no fees.

How to help an older relative learn

• Start at home: a few letters a day, with large print and good light.
• Use things they already know, such as their own name, the names of family members and the numbers on a calendar.
• Ask your gram panchayat, local school or block education office about ULLAS classes and test dates near you.
• Be patient. Celebrate every new word.

Sources: The Better India; Insights on India: The ULLAS initiative; Careers360: Education Ministry data on ULLAS. Image: representative image, Unsplash.