Keralaeducation

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.

Given the recent trends, education has been an economic activity that has risen from indispensability to a source of livelihood. Education exports are but educated students who seek employment outside the state, and remit money for their family members. The remittances have created a source of income. This income in turn generates allied economic activities that use the expenditure of this income. Therefore, education becomes the fulcrum that controls all these economic activities.

The importance given to education is such that government investment in setting up educational infrastructure is high, and clearly surpasses the domestic production output of the state. Comparing these two, the domestic output of the state is a dwarf to the investment in education and related activities. The Kerala government has realized that even if it cannot scale-up to the level of a state that scores high on industrial production, it still can reap the harvests of investing in youth. The education system has created lots of jobs for teachers. Teaching is a stable career in Kerala. It is an organized sector, and is given all benefits and recognition by the government. Teachers have the provision to join unions and association that work for their rights and privileges. They are also entitled to a monthly pension on retirement.

People who want to live, work, and settle in Kerala look for a teaching job as a safe and secure option. Due to this, the number of teachers in the state has surpassed the number of other kinds of workers. Teachers account for more than half the population of paid workers in the state, and this trend looks to continue. Therefore, it looks feasible for the government to concentrate on building knowledge-based industries, rather than scampering to establish chemical and manufacturing factories. The latter is subject to many hindrances like land prices, pollution controls, government stability and orientation, supply of workers and so on. Further, the state is quite backward in terms of the knowledge and know-how on attracting, retaining, and replenishing investment in heavy manufacturing industries. Thus importance of education in Kerala is now even more pronounced.

Favoritism and lack of integrity have been the pain-points of private and government educational institutions. The management is not transparent in fees structure, and seat allocation. Plagued by escalating expenses, private managements are forced to encourage people to buy seats on a management quota in privately funded colleges. The details of the fees are not consistent; rather they vary, and are seldom disclosed.

What started of as a disease in private colleges, soon spread into government colleges. Most government colleges were controlled by political will. This made bureaucrats and politicians rule the roost. Large and exorbitant fees for management seats of medical and engineering colleges went straight into the pockets of politicians. The spoils were also shared equally amongst the upper froth of management. These practices left students lose their confidence in education. Higher education has been hit badly. The trend still continues in most colleges. The government’s impetus and support to education has encourages education in a big way. But there also exist a section of educational institutions that patronize unjust and corrupt behavior.

There cannot be two rulers ruling on similar sets of rules. Government colleges have seen this problem of being ruled by politicians and the private management. There is a constant tug of war between the two. The only way to uproot this problem is to decentralize education. Decentralization can expedite decisions, make the education system clear of political interference, and give colleges more credibility. Decentralization can make the system fast, and move it away from traditional time consuming procedures, that require use of influence, and political girth to push ones way up.

To set this right, the University Grants Mission, sponsored a scheme to build autonomous colleges, despite colleges lacking financial stability. However, this system has not seen the light of the day, given the lack of political will. The political influence in university administration has created multiple strata of management. This has further muddled accountability and transparency. Students are now disenchanted with all these developments. New and noble educational initiatives are finding it difficult to convince people because of this.

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.

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.

Mark Ecko, the fashion designer behind the designer brand Ecko (Mark Ecko Enterprises), may be a high school dropout himself, but he is a big supporter of education. He often says he is doing his part to educate the future fashion designers of the world. Ecko’s organization, Sweaty Equity Education (SEE), works with under-privileged children who may not otherwise have an opportunity to learn real life skills they can use in the real world. The organization puts these children in a professional business environment to teach them fashion and design skills.

The role of the organization is not really to turn all of these kids into famous fashion designers. Through hands-on learning, however the kids involved in the program are learning professional and coping skills that will get them through life. SEE teaches the children in the program about public speaking, time management skills, how to manage projects and management information. Working with other kids in the program also helps the participants to learn social skills, how to collaborate with others and problem-solving skills. On an educational level, math, reading, critical thinking and research skills are another byproduct of participating in the program.

Ecko says, “The public education system fails too many students whose passions don’t fit into traditional education fields. Giving creative students a hands-on outlet for experimentation with a craft is mostly lacking for middle- and high-school students.”

Even in a recession, where the Ecko brand retail sales have dropped from $1.5 billion and the company is struggling with $170 million of debt, Mark Ecko is still in hot pursuit of integrating his program into schools around the country. While the program goes into schools to work with the kids, the program also brings the kids to “the lab” where they are taught the fashion design business with hidden skill sets built in to the program.

Kalaripayattu is a martial art practiced, performed, and celebrated in Kerala. It is one of the oldest combat techniques in the world. Kalaripayattu is practiced in dedicated schools, called kalaris. Education in Kalaripayattu is given at these schools.

Placing the students on a mat, and giving them oil massage starts of the Kalaripayattu training. The oil massage supposedly gives the body a lot of vigor and agility. Kalaripayattu uses agile movements like sprinting, running, jumping high, pouncing, somersaults etc. It also uses war-weapons like swords, knives, and daggers. Kalaripayattu education will cover the use of weaponry, and also the use of bow and arrow.

It is easier said than done to do an education in Kalaripayattu. It takes a lot of physical and mental stamina. The training is rigorous, and unrelenting. There is no room for wavering hearts, indecisive minds. Kalaripayattu education purely focuses on training for war, even if it means an imaginary war.

Kalaripayattu education is all about attacking-cum-self-defense mechanisms. There is a strong undercurrent of religion as well. When training starts, it never stops until the person has achieved mind-body coordination like no other. Kalaripayattu practitioners are known to flay their swords and spears, as if they were extended limbs of their body. There is a tremendous need for control and accuracy when using these dangerous weapons, and it is always advised to take up Kalaripayattu education only at the kalaris.

It is interesting to note, that free-hand combats are kept for last. All weapon related combats are taught in the beginning, and hand-to-hand fighting is done later. The most distinguishing factor in Kalaripayattu is that students are given education on healing techniques. They are taught the various traditional ways to formulate herbal medicines to heal various types of wounds.

There are different phases to Kalaripayattu education. The phases are namely, Meithari, Kolthari, Angathari, and Verumkai. The first phase is about conditioning the mind and body. The second deals with fighting with wooden weapons, and later graduating to real weapons in the third phase. The last phase is all about using free-hand combat techniques.

Though Kerala has predominantly been a football loving state, other sports have their place here has well. Sports education in Kerala is seeing a surge in activity given the active revamping of sport infrastructure in the state.

One key participant in the setting up of a strong foundation for sports education in Kerala is the Kerala Sports Council. The Kerala Sports Council is an aided sports body concerned with activities related to sports education and infrastructure in the state. This council has accommodation facilities for students of sports education courses. The procedure to select talent is to set up rural level coaching units. Talented sportsmen and sportswomen from these units are selected and inducted into the sports education programs.

Retired sports people are given pensions. This is part of the retired persons welfare fund of Kerala Sports Council. The monthly payment helps retired sports people lead a decent existence. It also brings in a certain degree of aspiration to the falling paradigm of sports in India.

The Kerala Youth Welfare Board also plays a big part in mobilizing funds. Setup in 1985, it holds its place as an organization that plays a vital role in uplifting youth goals and aspirations. This entity is concerned with the holistic development of the youth of the state, by providing them the support for sports education, or any other vocations of their choice.

The Kerala Youth Welfare Board has taken sports education and allied activities a step further by including adventure sports to the curriculum. Adventure sports in an uncharted territory in India, and this move will only encourage youngsters to seek careers in adventure sports. Adventure sports like hiking, paragliding, cross-country biking, mountain climbing and so on are being seriously looked at as being included as mainstream sports education curriculum.

Giving uplift to sports education in the state will also curb the rising levels of unemployment. Unemployed youth have been the bane of the state. Idle minds have bred discontentment and rebellion. Politicians have diverted youth-focus on education to political orientations, leading to an air of partisan political fundamentalism.

Technical education is a key factor for getting the state to utilize its human capital to the fullest. It bridges the demand-supply needs of the country for quality technical personnel. Technical education in Kerala has improved the standards of living of people. This is because technically educated people have got employment, and are able to support themselves and their families.

Technical education means any education pertaining to engineering and technology. It can also be medicine, aeronautics, hospitality, management and various design and planning courses. All technical education colleges in Kerala come under the aegis of the Kerala Government’s Higher Education Department. The Minister of Education presides over all decisions pertaining to technical education in Kerala. Any enhancements or provisions are discussed and applied with all the concerned people in the Higher Education Department.

All government implementation happen via the Directorate of Technical Education. The technical education system comprises of a mosaic arrangement of technical schools, colleges, and institutes of various streams. It could be engineering institutes, professional training centers, polytechnic colleges, fine art colleges and so on. Technical education is well collaborated by affiliate education departments. Some of these are namely the curriculum department, and the industry interaction unit.

The curriculum department is also called the Center for Curriculum Development. This department comes under the aegis of the Department of Technical Education. The primary responsibilities of this department are to revise and update curriculum, prepare course material and allied training resources, setup facilities for teachers, conduct continuous improvement programs, and also facilitate research activities.

Technical education in Kerala is directed at giving the best education at all levels. It covers comprehensive courses of study in engineering, information technology, agro-studies, health science, marketing and human resources, global trade and logistics, management and so on. The directorate is involved in all activities related to administration of all the engineering colleges, polytechnic institutes, and other professional education colleges in Kerala. Students in Kerala can definitely look forward to more empowering activities by the technical education department.

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.