Denying the students in Malabar, their right to education

Take a look at the statistics after the completion of the first allotment to Plus one classes through Single Window Admission (Ekajalakam) in the state.

The highest number of students appeared for class 10 examinations and became eligible for higher education in Malappuram. A total of 80, 221 students applied for Plus one admissions in the district. But the only number of seats available in the district is 40, 121. Out of this, 32, 051 have been allotted. The rest of the 48, 170 aspirants now have to wrestle for the remaining 8070 seats. Even if the management seats and those in the community quota of the aided schools as well as the seats in unaided schools are considered, more than a quarter lakh students will lose the chance to study in Malappuram. Things are no different in Kozhikode district as well. While the number of aspirants who applied for admissions is 49, 104, the seats available are 27, 288. The first allotment has been completed in 21, 901 seats. Only 5387 seats remain for the rest of the 21, 816 students. Even considering the other possibilities for higher education like the ITI and Polytechnic, over ten thousand students won’t have opportunities for further studies. Coming to Kannur, there are only 25, 197 seats for 37, 510 applicants. First allotment has been completed for 19, 009 seats. Only 6188 seats are available for the remaining 12, 313 aspirants. In Palakkad district, there are 23, 786 seats for 45, 584 applicants and the first allotment has been completed in 20, 241 seats.

The statistics given above are of a phenomenon known for riddles like the poor state of education and shortage of seats. The truth is, it shouldn’t be called a poor state or dearth of seats. The above estimates are rather, straight evidences of the apparent discrimination by the government towards the Malabar region and the people. This crisis related to the higher secondary admission has been existing for a long time. However, this time, CBSE students increasingly shifting to state syllabus for higher secondary education have aggravated the crisis. Even the students who scored top marks in Malabar is unable to select the school or course of their choice. It would be utterly difficult for them to even secure a seat. Now have a look at some other intriguing statistics.

In Pathanamthitta district, 11, 816 students completed their class 10 and became eligible for higher education. There are 15, 780 seats in the district, 5280 in government schools and 10, 500 in aided schools. There are a total of 1958 seats in the unaided sector as well. That is, 17, 738 seats for just 11, 816 students! Look at the picture in Kottayam. The number of students who passed the class 10 exam is 21, 379 while the number of higher secondary seats are 26, 206 with 6660 seats in the government sector, 16, 560 seats in the aided sector and 2986 in the unaided sector. That is, there is an additional 4827 seats. In Idukki district, 12, 599 students passed the class 10 exams. The total number of higher secondary seats in the district are 14, 152, 5040 seats in government sector, 7440 seats in aided sector and 1672 in the unaided sector. Take a look at the data from Ernakulam. For the 34, 522 students who completed their class 10, the total number of Plus one seats are 38, 056; 11, 820 seats in government schools, 20, 460 and 5836 seats in aided and unaided sectors respectively. In Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts, the number of students who passed class 10 and the number of Plus one seats available are almost the same. In short, the students in south Kerala could select the institution and Plus one course of their choice, however low the marks are while those in Malabar region find it tough to secure a seat despite their good scores.

This discrimination shouldn’t be seen as a phenomenon that occurs only this year. This is the picture of Kerala, ruled by the right and the left parties. Further inquiries into the matter lead us to the realisation that the state’s development model was totally a discriminatory one. It is just the most apparent and severe in the educational sector. Different organisations have on many occasions held protests against this severe discrimination. The government has adopted certain shortcuts to resolve the problem as well. However, they haven’t yet shown the willingness to adopt permanent solutions acknowledging the seriousness of the matter. But now the government has been trying to establish that there is no such issue at present. It has come up with such a conclusion by comparing the total number of the Plus one seats in the state and the number of students who passed their SSLC. It’s by citing the number of additional and vacant seats in south Kerala that they deny the students in the Malabar region their right to education. The government should be willing to put an end to this grave discrimination. The people wouldn’t anyhow bear injustice and discrimination for long.