The
quality of education in the district is very poor and placed
among the least in the country, and hence the district has
been brought under a special
scheme of District Primary Education Programme funded by World
Bank. The main thrust is quality. Quality
is intended to be raised by increasing the physical facilities,
training of teachers and introducing the concept of M.L.L
(Minimum Level of Learning). New text books are already been
given to children along with hand books to teachers. The evaluation
system is also thoroughly revised. |
Schools:
There are at present 266 schools (126 lower primary, 77 upper
primary and 53 high schools) in Wayanad district. Five vocational
higher secondary schools, two higher secondary schools and
three teacher training institutes are there under the Department
of Education. There are a residential upper primary school
for scheduled castes at Muthanga and a residential high school
at Nallurnad. Out of 1,38,339 students studying in these schools,
69,944 are boys and 68,395 are girls. There are 7,686 scheduled
caste and 22,447 scheduled tribe students. In Wayanad 2,591
people share a school against the state average of 2,381 people
per school and this district has one school for every 8.075
Kms. against the state average of one school per 3.2 kms.
The average number of students in this district per school
is 532 against the state average of around 481. Wayanad is
a single education district with one Deputy Director, one
District Educational Officer and three Assistant Educational
Officers. It has also a District Institute of Education and
Training, located at Sulthan Bathery. In order to improve
the quality of education, the district has been brought under
special scheme of District Primary Education Project, funded
by the World Bank.
Post
School Education: Out
of the six colleges in the district, only one has the status
of a first grade college with post graduate courses and science
subjects. The proposed graduate programme in Tourism at Pazhassi
Raja college, Pulpally, is the only one of its kind in the
state. The only polytechnic is at Meenangadi. The Ambalavayal
Research Centre is a notable institution under the Kerala
Agricultural University. The B.Ed Centre at Kaniyambetta is
also a feather in the cap of the educational sector of this
district.
Tribal
Education:
The education of tribals is still a big problem. In spite
of a lot of efforts, they have not yet been brought to the
main stream. Many are admitted to schools, but they do not
remain. The only consolation is the two schools - Rajiv Gandhi
Residential School at Muthanga and Dr. Ambedkar Residential
school at Nallurnad, near Mananthavady - set apart for the
education of tribal children. Both these have better facilities
and are well run.
Literacy:
The literacy rate in Wayanad is 70.61 per cent as per 1991
census and was only 57.33 in 1981. Thus there is an appreciable
growth in the literacy rate in a decade. This is still below
the state average of 89.81 per cent. Among the panchayats
and municipality, Mullankolly has the highest rate of 77.11
followed by Vythiri, 75.71 per cent and Edavaka, 73.7 per
cent. |
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The Green Paradise
