LITERACY ACCESS: LIMITED

On International Literacy Day, CE traces the difficulties of first-generation learners, who, with no footsteps to follow, are in a dilemma - to navigate further or be stuck?

- DIYA MARIA GEORGE, SONU M KOTHARI

IN today's illusory, abundant world, the label 'first-generation learner comes with new hope and added weight. It speaks of aspiration visibly twinkling in the eyes - but also of the invisible pain-the strings of responsibilities atthat follows with tached stepping into unfamiliar, knowledge-abundant terrains.

Classrooms, libraries, and institutions with career guidance may be open for all, yet the routes to reach them are often tangled with confusion for many.

Nelson Mandela once said, "Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another." As we celebrate International Literacy Day today, these tensions feel sharp. Most of us live in a concrete jungle, placed inside a protective layer. We know which lanes to take, how to circle the buildings, and whom to look out for and call when the need arises. There is comfort in knowing that a web of support exists and that the control, more or less, rests in our hands. But for some, the protective layer simply does not exist. No network of assets, no safety net, no idea on routes to navigate through.

They are often met with a dead-end.

The guidance dilemma

Reporting the ground reality is Sarath Kumar G, an advocate and volunteer with Vyasai Thozhargal. He stresses how systemic the problem is: "Career guidance is not available.