Kochi: Poet Balachandran Chullikadu has made a strange appeal to the school and college authorities in Kerala to remove his works from the syllabuses and stop the research on them. This comes in the wake of his realisation that there are Malayalam teachers and researchers who do not know how to write the language correctly. The less said about the students, the better, according to him.
“The Kerala education system is so lenient that students can't even write letters without mistakes,” he told reporters here on Monday. “I wrote poems only for like-minded people and I regret giving permission to use them in the school and college syllabuses,” he added.
He has taken this stand following his experience recently when he received a questionnaire sent by a teacher researching on his works. It was full of spelling errors. “How can a teacher who doesn’t even know letters and basic grammar teach the language,” he asked. “In another incident, during a function in a university, an MA Sanskrit student gave me a poem written by him and asked me to read it. Its highlight was its spelling errors. I wonder how he could get admission to the PG course,” added Chullikadu.
“Students who have no idea about letters and grammar are liberally evaluated and given degrees,” he said. “Those who lack expertise in teaching language are appointed through political influence, bribery and religious consideration,” he alleged. Several works of the noted poet are part of the school and college curriculum.
