96-year-old woman by the name of Karthiyayani Amma has recently become the oldest woman to ace the literacy examination in Kerala this year, proving once again that age is just a number.
As the results were announced on Wednesday, Amma was declared the topper of the qualifying Class IV examination held by the Kerala Literacy Mission Authority in August under the ‘Aksharalaksham’ (Million Letter) programme. She is set to receive her certificate from Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. A native of Alappuzha district, Amma scored 98 marks out of 100, beating all her classmates. A total 42,933 candidates passed the exam, which was held for Classes IV, VII, X, XI, and XII.
The Aksharalaksham program was introduced by the Kerala government on January 26 this year to achieve 100 percent literacy in the state. Over 47,000 neo-literates were trained under the programme. Karthiyayani Amma, who previously worked as a cleaning staff member in the temples of her village Muttom, was the oldest candidate to appear.
This picture is a images of the nonagenarian evoked going viral on social media, people could not help congratulate the inspirational woman’s grit and dedication, despite her age.
Even Congress Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted about Amma’s achievement:
Shashi Tharoor
✔
@ShashiTharoor
i had tweeted about this 96 year old Kerala student when she began her studies: yesterday she passed her literacy exams! Congratulations Karthyayani Amma!
96-year-old woman, oldest among her peers, cracks Kerala literacy exam
With 98% marks in the examination, Karthyayini will be declared ‘literate’ by the state government and is eligible to write the equivalent of the fourth-standard examination next year.
