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Monday, May 30, 2011

Yet Another (Un)Educational Reform in Kerala

Disclaimer: The fact that my second language is Special English has nothing to do with this post.

The latest buzz in the Kerala state educational circles is that one IT period will be cut per week to accommodate more Malayalam classes. And this seems like another bead in the string of stupidities of the education department.

I could start a rant about how ridiculous and moronic the education sector in Kerala is, and never stop. The textbooks, instead of being guides, play the part of workbooks. What's more, they have innumerous mistakes. One small example: My 9th standard Geography textbook mentioned that Ecuador's capital was Quetta! (FYI: Ecuador's capital is Quito, and Quetta is in Pakistan. The authorities were off by a few thousand miles.)

Back to our topic. The plan to increase the periods is supposedly the part of a proposed move to make Malayalam the first language. I'm not saying Malayalam is unimportant - it's my mother tongue after all. Agreed that the popularity of the language is decreasing, with more and more importance being given to English. But will forcing such decisions upon students make them like Malayalam overnight? Moreover, won't the cutback on IT classes affect the students?

Face it. This is just another doing by someone somewhere to benefit someone else, not students. If this decision is really going to be implemented, we students have to bear the brunt of it. Most likely, this means lower scores in IT, especially in Government schools were there are no separate teachers for the subject. More than that, it means that there will be a little or no change in the number of Malayalam fans.

The bottom line: The number of periods allotted to a subject is NOT directly proportional to the students' interest in it.

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