Bihari Migrant Emerges On Top In Malayalam Literacy Exam

When Romiya Kathur, came to Kerala from her native Bihar in 2014, she hardly imagined that she would, one day, be feted for being rather proficient in a language she knew nothing of—Malayalam. A semi-literate, Romiya knew only Urdu and Hindi when she, along with her husband, Saifullah came to Kerala in search of a job.

After doing many odd jobs, they opened a juice Bar in Umayanalloor in Kollam district of state and Romiya started learning Malayalam to interact with the locals.

After finding that she was picking up the language rather well, she decided to take the next step and enrol for Malayalam classes and then took the higher secondary school equivalency exam conducted by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority in January.

The results, which were announced, recently surprised and thrilled Romiya. She not only topped the exam, but she also scored 100 out of 100 in Malayalam!

Romiya, 26, was one of the 1,998 migrants, mostly labourers, who had appeared for the literacy exam as part of the Changathi (Friend) project of the Literacy Mission. The aim of this programme is to teach Malayalam to migrant labourers living in the state.

Over 3,700 migrants, mostly from the northern states of the country, cleared the literacy exam, which were held in two phases.

The Literacy Mission director P. S. Sreekala visited Romiya and felicitated her. Romiya, a mother of three, now has a new mission. She wants to complete higher secondary equivalency exam. The Mission has offered all help for Romiya. RD wishes her all the best.