Posts Tagged ‘Education in Kerala’
The Kerala state government has for long pontificated on the benefits of having an inclusive education system; an education system that cuts across gender bias, income groups, caste, religion, and so on. Emphasis has also been laid on rendering education to the socially and economically backward classes. Women in education and education for women have also been taken up in a big way.
Middle class people have grown in stature and affluence. To fulfill their growing needs in the realm of education the government has to take huge strides to up the ante of educational development activities. Some educational institutions have the benefits of getting their fees subsidized. This helps them rope in students from all backgrounds. Transport costs have also been reduced, and in some cases waived off. What this does is, that it provides students the opportunity to come to schools without many disadvantages like huge travel costs, and huge fees.
Though efforts are being made to increase the accessibility to education, and also enhancing the viability of it, it remains to be seen if education breaks the barrier of cost. Free education as propounded by educationist visionaries has had to struggle for survival, given the numerous private coaching centers and parallel colleges mushrooming all across the state.
Private coaching centers have become the bane of the free education enterprise. Lack of scientific structuring in syllabus has led students to run to private coaching centers, which happily lap up the students and extract more money from them. So this means that education is only for the well-heeled middle class individual? If so, where is the right to education in Kerala? If the government is willing to subsidize education, why should it let private coaching centers run amok? These questions have remained unanswered.
The poor people in the rural regions have no access to the upper echelons of education. They are disadvantaged when taking up professional technical education at the graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral level. This indicates, that Kerala has to scale-up its educational system to make it truly accessible to all sections of the society.
The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India. Due to the strong foundation laid by its educational patrons, who institutionalized education, people in Kerala place a higher focus on education. In earlier days, Sabha Mathams were set up to impart traditional education. These educational conclaves or systems were an abode for quality education and discourse of the Vedas and Upanishads.
The villages were the epicenters of martial art and formal education. The Ezhuthachans were the pioneers in starting the process of formal education in Kerala. Ezhuthachan was an honorary usage associated with erudite people who imparted education. This usage was not applicable for teachers of all castes though. Teachers belonging to the Nair or Menon castes were mostly chosen to belong to the Ezhuthachan category.
Astronomy and mathematics had its roots in Kerala as early as the 14th century. In Trichur district of Kerala, a school was established in the 14th century. This was the Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics. Most institutions established during this time followed the Gurukula method of imparting education. Under this method, students resided in the home of a teacher. Most of the exams were oral and seldom written. The students would memorize the answers of the subjects, and recite them in the form of a poem. The Kerala School of mathematics and astronomy has made numerous contributions to the world. Some of the noteworthy achievements were in the sphere of calculus, and infinite series.
The Kerala Literacy Mission is an educational initiative taken up by the Kerala government to provide a platform to promote the cause of education in Kerala. The LEAP (Lifelong Education and Awareness Programme) initiative comes under the aegis of the State Education Department, and focuses on providing education that can be applied directly to matters of survival, and livelihood. LEAP was formed because of the lack of focus youth have when taking up education that they can put to use.