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The state which boasts of hundred per cent literacy cuts a sorry figure in higher education. The postgraduate syllabi in Kerala is seeped in Marxist ideology due to political interference by successive Left Governments in the State, says a recent paper by Thiruvananthpuram-based Bharteeya Vichara Kendram.
The poor state of affairs in Kerala has been brought about by "over doze politicising of the higher education scenario" and "highly politicised stewardship of universities," argue authors K Jayaprasad and C I Issac in the paper titled "The University Education of Kerala at a Critical Juncture - Politicisation, Decline of Standard, Conservatism".
The authors say that students are paying the price of high degree of political interference in higher education. Students from Kerala do not fare well in national level competitive exams.
Only 11 out of 2,307 students who took the UGC's National Eligibility Test in June 2001 passed the exam, they say.
In Mahatma Gandhi University, chances are that the students will not learn about Gandhi for their MA in Political Science because his views are eliminated from the compulsory paper on 'Indian political thought'. So are Lala Lajpat Rai, Dadabhai Navoroji and Jayprakash Narayan.
'Gandhi Thought' was incorporated in the syllabus as an optional paper. But the optional paper is not provided by any college or department in this university. However, chapters like Marxism and Communism find a place in 'Modern Western political thought' along with an optional paper 'Socialist Thought' containing chapters like Marxism, Scientific Socialism, Communism - Lenin, Stalin and Mao.
The MA History syllabus of the university in the paper 'History of Revolts and protest movement in Kerala' teaches spread of communist ideology and the formation of radical groups, origin of communist party, Prajamandalam and the Communist movement in Malabar, Kayyur and Karivallur riots, Communist upsurge in Punnapara and Wayalar, while leaving out other parallel movements in Kerala, Dr Jayaprasad and Dr Issac say.
The paper 'Ideology and Practice of National Movement' for postgraduate students in Calicut University teaches Communist perspective, Communist methods, while omitting Swami Vivekanand, Lok Manya Tilak, Shri Aurobindo, Vir Savarkar and Hindu Mahasabha.
In the same university, students of MA History study eleven papers in the four semesters dedicated to Islamic-West Asian history. This pattern is confined only to Calicut University, no other university offers Islamic papers in its MA History syllabus, the paper says.
The heavy Marxist influence is evident even in the prescribed textbooks.
The authors say that despite emphasis on education in the State, only 3.5 per cent of the literate population has secured undergraduate or higher degrees.
"It happened because of the absence of efficient and committed politicians to handle the education portfolio in the State," the report says.
Another malady is the desertion of educational experts from the higher education scenario of the State. The dominance of the left ideology prevails over the higher education scenario, causing obstacles to all the proposed educational reforms of the past, the authors say. In educational reforms, the State is three decades back compared to other States in India.
The paper also talks about the highly politicised stewardship of universities. "The post of the vice-chancellors, pro-VCs and syndicate members were divided amongst the constituent parties of the coalition Government," it says. The appointments are based on politico-religious, caste considerations, the paper alleges.
Kerala Education Minister Nalakathu Sooppy has not yet seen the critical report, but denied the prejudices in the higher education syllabi. "There is no political interference in the function of universities," he told The Pioneer.
He, however, agreed that "Kerala
higher education was slipping," but added that "we are going to amend (the
syllabi)."
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