No room for complacency

THE NOBEL LAUREATE, Prof. Amartya Sen, has given a timely warning to Kerala - not to be complacent on the education front. True, Kerala has achieved 100 per cent literacy. It can boast of high standards not only in education but in all social sectors. So much so, Kerala prides itself on being a leader, even in population control. Even from the era of princely States, it has had an enlightened leadership that focussed on the inherent strengths of society. But as Prof. Sen told a recent national conference on education, Kerala cannot rest on its laurels and cannot afford to grow complacent with the accolades received in the past. The fact now is that it is slipping in the field of education, particularly higher education. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are stealing a march on it, particularly in technical and higher education. Their leadership in Information Technology (IT) stems from the thrust these States have given to higher education. If Kerala wants to catch up on this front, it must pull its socks up, draw up a blueprint for promoting higher education and create the infrastructure. Only then can it also climb up the ladder of industrial development and attract more investments.

Prof. Sen's assessment of the education scenario in Kerala, in comparison with other States, comes up with an interesting observation - Kerala's reach in primary education was very strong, whereas some other States have `overexpanded' the reach of higher education with the base of the pyramid, primary education, being narrow. This is because, from the days of Travancore, the State has favoured this approach and provided full assistance to primary education. Not only is the literacy rate the highest, but there is no significant dropout from schools. The same cannot be said of many other States, where the base of the pyramid remains weak. Realising the need for higher and technical education, the other three southern States have marched ahead in that field. Be it medicine, engineering or IT, there is a surfeit of colleges offering a variety of courses. In the past two years, they have also started increasing the seat strength in what are called self-financing colleges to step up the output of qualified professionals. With the IT Ministry announcing the need for 2,00,000 IT professionals per year over the next five years, these three States appear set to vie for that cake. The students too are taking all these seats, at least in the better managed colleges.

The experience and model of the Shenzen province in China has also been cited by Prof. Sen as something that Kerala can follow to achieve a niche for itself in IT. Shenzen, which was known to be one of the backward parts of the People's Republic, has now emerged as a frontline State that leads the way in IT and boasts of a substantially higher per capita income than other provinces. Since Kerala has a high literacy rate and an industrious people, it can certainly make a success of it. Now that the controversy over the increase in the number of higher secondary schools has abated, the State Government must go at full throttle, enhancing the reach of higher secondary education and following it up with a fillip to technical education, particularly in IT. With no dearth of funds from within, or even from non-resident Keralites, it should be possible to create a network of IT institutes which can provide quality education. That will be the real base for a rapid expansion of Kerala's industry and potential for the IT industry. Without stopping there, the Government and the private sector must also encourage the growth of Malayalam on the net, just as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh plan to give a boost to their languages. Kerala has a lot of catching up to do.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Beyond a bizarre tale
Next     : Win over the region first