A 97-year-old woman who stood first in the Kerala literary mission's 'Aksharalaksham' exam has been honoured by the Commonwealth of Learning organisation based in Vancouver, Canada.
Karthyayani Amma of Muttam has been named Commonwealth learning goodwill ambassador, dedicated to the promotion of distant education in Commonwealth countries.
Commonwealth of Learning's goodwill president Balasubramaniam had visited Karthyayani Amma earlier and handed over an award. She is preparing for the Class 4 exam and is confident of winning the Class 7 and 10 equivalent exams.
The photographs of Karthyayani Amma writing Aksharalaksham examination at Harippad in Kerala's Alappuzha district had gone viral a couple of months ago. Keralites lauded her perseverance and hard work despite the old age. She had set a new record by scoring a stellar 98 out of 100 and was the oldest among 42,933 candidates who cleared the literacy examinations last year. She was gifted a laptop recently by Kerala Education Minister C. Raveendranath.
'Aksharalaksham,' a project by the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA), aimed at eradicating illiteracy among aged and deprived population of Kerala, has attained 99.08 per cent success in 2018, as 42,933 out of 43,330 candidates cleared the test.
