Thiruvananthapuram:
A committee set up by the Kerala Government has proposed that teaching Malayalam at
all levels of school education be made compulsory in the state.
Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said the Cabinet today approved in principle the recommendations of the panel headed by educationist Dr R V G Menon.
The State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) had been asked to submit suggestions for implementation of the panel's proposals, he said.
The Committee also recommended restructuring the periods in school classes to give due importance to the mother tongue of Malayalis.
It was set up amid concerns of learning Malayalam losing importance at school levels following proliferation of English medium schools in the state.
The committee report has come at a time when the state has been pressuring the Centre to accord classical status to Malayalam.
Recently, a panel headed by Jnanpith laureate O N V Kurup had said in a report that Malayalam meets all the parameters for getting classical status like antiquity and a
literary tradition that has evolved through centuries and grammatical features.