Kasargod has achieved an impressive 85 per cent pass rate in the higher secondary equivalency exam conducted by the Literacy Mission in association with the General Education Department. Of the 543 candidates, 468 adult learners who took the exam passed.

Meanwhile, 86 candidates who wrote the exam in Kannada medium cleared it, while 421 candidates in Humanities and 47 learners in Commerce earned eligibility for higher studies. The list of successful learners includes people’s representatives and ASHA workers.

Alice George, a 66-year-old learner at Parappana centre, is the oldest person to pass the equivalency test in the district. Most candidates are expected to apply for graduate courses at Sree Narayana Open University. The Literacy Mission has been conducting contact classes on all holidays at the nine higher secondary schools in the district for adult learners.

Panchayat president Baby Balakrishnan, who is also the district literacy mission chairperson, along with mission coordinator PN Babu, congratulated the winners. At Kasargod GHSS, 98 of the 117 candidates who studied there passed the equivalency test. 

Similarly, 43 out of 44 candidates who attended contact classes at BEMHSS, as well as 62 out of 66 candidates from Hosdurg, passed the exam. In addition, 33 out of 36 learners from Cherkkala and 56 out of 60 candidates from Badiyadukka also qualified for higher studies.