The Dehradun district administration is all set to commence the second phase of the Padho Doon Badho Doon campaign from next month after receiving a positive report from the third-party audit.

On January 25, the district administration had claimed of educating about 32,000 illiterate residents under this campaign and declared Dehradun as the first district to achieve a 100 per cent literacy rate in Uttarakhand. Those illiterates who remained outside the district, seriously ill or who died during the campaign were not included in this figure.

However, the administration decided to conduct the audit under the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) and a non-profit organisation Room to Read, to determine the literacy level of locals taught under this campaign. Since the administration received a positive response from the third-party audit, it has decided to commence the second phase of the campaign in August.

Chief development officer (CDO) Nitika Khandelwal said the overall result of all the people who studied under the campaign was satisfying.

According to her, all the blocks scored over 92 per cent in learning outcomes except Doiwala and Chakrata which have learning outcomes of 80 per cent.

She informed that in the second phase of the campaign, the administration will focus on revision of the previous students besides educating those locals who came back to their homes in the district in the last six months.

“Education is a continuous process that needs regular classes. Though many organisations associated with the administration in this campaign continued to teach them, it is possible that many did not continue their studies by reading and writing during the Covid curfew. In the third party audit, we found some students who could read but could not write properly or could write but failed to recite and read properly. We aim to focus on this issue during the second phase,” asserted Khandelwal.