Smart Governance
Tech Line
Talking Pen, a device that reproduces the sound of a written text is helping neo-literate in a big way in Kerala’ s rural areas.
BY Bibin S. Nath
Maniyamma, an octogenarian tribal woman of Palakkayam colony in Chaliyargrama panchayat used to struggle with books and slates in her endeavour to become a neo-literate. But a‘ talking pen’ which reproduces the sound of a written text made matters easy for her and so many other indigenous people of the area. They moved the electronic pen across the alphabets and words of songs to hear and learn them simultaneously with ease.
Under the roofs of Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Malappuram an NGO under the sponsorship of Union HRD Ministry, 320 Scheduled tribes including Maniyamma made their way into the world of letters and education. Here they not just learn letters but garner valuable lessons in health, sanitation, de-addiction, financial literacy and entrepreneurship. It is this talking pen and other such innovative efforts in literacy and skill development programmes which helped Jan Shikshan Sansthan( JSS), Malappuram to bag the covetous UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, 2016.
The Confucius Prize for Literacy is an international prize awarded by UNESCO every year in recognition of excellence and inspiring experiences in the field of literacy
Writing the future with a Talking Pen
November 2016 16 www. smartgovernance. in