13 July 2012 Kerala Commentary
Political bias coming into school text books, okayed by 'experts' committee.
P.S.Remesh Chandran.
Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum.
One of the learned academicians of India,Dr. Sarvappalli Radhakrishnan, a teacher, writer, philosopher and visionary, when became the President of India, it was a moment of glory to the nation as well as the teaching world. His famous books such as Towards A New World unfortunately did not open our eyes. In one of his articles he noted that ‘we are faced with the paradoxical fact that educators have become one of the obstacles to education.’ When he wrote this burning phrase, India was comparatively more orthodox in keeping educational standards and observing teaching ethics. Now we all know whether we succeeded or failed in keeping those standards and ethics. Since Kerala is considered to be a state with higher literacy rate brought about by orthodoxy in pedagogical system, it is only justifiable to enquire into what goodness or harm the academicians of this state, represented by academic bodies such as these Higher Education Council, Board of Studies and Education Department, brought about in Kerala. First they brought about so many syllabuses followed in the state which all pushed back government schools useful to poor students. When every other syllabus gave more importance to English language which helped students develop higher communication skills in English and secure covetous positions in the public sector and the private sector, our children in government schools who were burdened with Malayalam which is known only to a 0.000005 percent of the world population became left outs everywhere when they grew up. Because it is they who secure the jobs of clerks in government service, since they do not know how to write and speak in English, as advised by these very same academicians, government made Malayalam the official communication language of Kerala as if the government has no other important business. In the past, a government servant through daily experience learned English and when he became a senior, could communicate excellently in English. This opportunity is now closed by these wicked academics. Now even government secretaries cannot communicate well in English. Have anyone seen the language coming out of government secretariate in thousands of communications? So, the objective is to create a generation who does not know any English and who would become rejects in every walk of human life. Another generation, the sons and daughters of ministers, politicians, senior government officers, industrialists and rich businessmen, would pass out of privileged schools and secure top most positions in administration. Since the time of Changampuzha, Karoor Neelakandta Pillai and Chanthu Menon, not one good piece of poetry, story or novel was created in Malayalam literature. Are you going to give the inferior rubbish since then as lessons to students instead of Tennyson, Shakespeare and Dickens as other syllabuses do? Your objective is clear. Bring back the romantic DPEP also if you wish, so that the destruction would be complete.
News:
B Hridayakumari committee, which studied the semester system justified political bias in textbooks.
It's ok to have political bias in textbooks: Panel.