Ludhiana: School heads told to increase enrolment under literacy programme
Spearheaded by the government of India, New India Literacy Programme is aimed at eradicating illiteracy among those above 15 years of age and above
The school heads, principals and block nodal officers of Ludhiana district have been instructed by the office of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Jagraon, to enrol more learners under the New India Literacy Programme (NILP) and submit the updated data via email to the Jagraon office by Friday.

Spearheaded by the government of India, NILP is aimed at eradicating illiteracy among those above 15 years of age and above.
DIET principal Rajwinder Kaur informed that the target to register learners for the year 2024-25 is 50,000 which is expected to be completed by September this year. “An official notice has been sent to all schools to increase the number of learners and the final report must be sent to the block nodal officers as soon as possible,” she added. Kaur mentioned that the certificate issued to the learners after the examination is equivalent to Class 8 and post completing this programme, they can also opt for skill-based courses.
“The books in Punjabi language are distributed in the schools to teach these learners. Earlier, there used to be four books but now they have been compiled into one,” she added. Any teacher of senior secondary and high school or student from Class 9 to 12 can volunteer by reaching out to non-literates and making them a part of the programme.
Pradeep Kumar, principal of GSSS, Lalton Kalan, said there are 15 volunteers from his school but it is not an easy task to convince the non-literates to register for the programme.
Charanjeet Kaur Ahuja, principal of GSSS, Cemetery Road, remarked, “At least 15 teachers of our school are volunteers and till now 129 learners have been registered, and the numbers will increase soon.”
The programme has five components, including foundational literacy and numeracy, critical life skills like financial literacy, digital literacy, legal literacy, healthcare and awareness, childcare and education, family welfare, basic education, which includes preparatory, middle and secondary stage equivalency, vocational skills, engaging holistic adult education courses in arts, sciences, technology, culture, sports, recreation, as well as other topics of interest or use to local learners and formation and involvement of self-help groups, voluntary and user groups. It is being implemented during the five years from the financial years 2022-23 to 2026-27.
