Kerala's higher education breeds mediocrity.

Coming down hard on Kerala's failure to improve the "awful state" of its universities and colleges, a new book has said "long-time neglect" of quality in higher education has built a "for-Kerala-by-Kerala" type of higher education, breeding mediocrity.

The damning criticism of the higher education sector in the book "Kerala - 1956 to the Present : India's Miracle State' - co-authored by Tirthankar Roy, professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics and K Ravi Raman, a member of the state's Planning Board - comes at a time when the state is facing an outflow of youngsters to foreign shores for higher education. Adding to the concerns, most campuses are battling murky student politics and violence.

"The Kerala Model was good with primary education and an abject failure with higher education. The entry of private investment has not done much to improve the awful state of the universities and colleges", say the authors.

Private investment in education has revived, as in other states. However, private investors in education rarely understand how to build quality and target quantity instead. Bureaucrats are not competent to perform the complicated task of improving the quality of education, the book says.

My take

An area that needs adept handling and futuristic concepts! Education has to be of top quality, nothing short of it. In fact, students from the other states of our country and from abroad should make a beeline for the state's universities for their sheer quality.

Tailpiece.

Got up at a quarter past 5 to heavy rains. The chores and was ready by a quarter to 10.

To the town to get the new PUC for the Chevy, top up with fuel and check tyre pressure.

Santhi sends us the message that her son, Akhil and Rithu have been blessed with a baby boy, this afternoon, local time.

Shut down The Quarterdeck in phases.