Posts Tagged ‘Kerala Education’
Kerala has made significant progress in the field of education. It is inching towards a cent percent literacy rate. Primary education has always been top priority in Kerala, and due to this, the government of Kerala subsidizes most primary education. Education subsidization is one of the key contributing factors to the retention rates of primary education students. Many families are not able to afford primary education for their children, which may lead to dropping out of school. But with the making of primary education free, this problem does not exist. Most primary education schools also provide free lunch to students. This makes Kerala a state that believes in embracing development schemes that can also be seen in developed countries.
Though these feats are worthy of appreciation, there however exist cracks in the wall. There are plenty of irregularities in the system and functioning of the education mechanism. There is not much importance given to the quality and relevancy of the courses. Teachers are not trained to train effectively. Students just become a slave of the circumstances, and absorb what is given to them, whether crude or refined. This is one of the factors that explain Kerala’s snail-pace economic movement. Most development activities are initiated, but lack the core and girth of sophistication, and effectiveness, thus annulling any contribution of education to the economy.
It is interesting to note that the most households in Kerala survive by an influx of money from outside sources. Executives, working professionals, non-resident Indians remit money that is consumed by Kerala households. Given the low industrial production in Kerala, people are forced to look for employment outside the state. A brain-drain phenomenon is evident here, since the best brains are being migrated from the state to other regions. Over the past years, primary and secondary education has been the biggest export of Kerala. Activities related to education have created the need for quality teachers in Kerala. It is not surprising to see that a teacher is given the same amount of reverence as would to doctor, an engineer or any highly skilled professional.
Kerala needs lots of financial aid to enhance education delivery mechanisms. It also needs to look at adding more capacity to its educational institutions to enable them to dispense education to more and more students. Intake capacity is not great in technical education and professional education centers. It is so less, that people have to scamper for seats, like politicians do for theirs in the state assemblies. Increasing capacity will put paid to the problem of plenty. In Kerala, there are plenty of bright students, and it makes sense for the government to provide the financial aid for increasing intake capacity of colleges and institutes.
All these activities require funds. The supply of funds has never been sufficient. The government has to lobby for external funds to support the human resource development in the state. Statistics indicate a dip in government expenditure in education post the fifth five-year plan. The state has been undergoing a financial crisis constantly. Fingers have been pointed out at the state’s expenditure on social development sectors, especially education. Education is now facing the brunt of getting a slowed-down investment rate. Foreign direct investment in education also seems to be siphoned off to other development activities. A collective realization should prevail, about education’s role in giving Kerala an edge over other states in terms of qualified human resources.
The educational sector has found it difficult to break-even. It has not been able to fully recover the investment costs, and post significant profit margins. If investment has to be attracted, these things are crucial. Charging educational fees can retrieve cost. Given the state’s inclination for free education, not much education fee is being generated. Educational loans have also been discouraged, given the low employment rate in the state. Banks and financial institutions are unsure how to control long distance loan deliveries. However, if the government thinks of loan subsidy, banks might be more cooperative, since the repayment is easy on the students, and suited to run around their earning periods and finally close down.