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MUHAMMEDALI SHIHABS fatherdiedwhenhewas11 andhismotherwastoo poor to afford his education. So shesentShihabandhistwosistersto aMus-lim-runorphanage inKeralas Kozhikodedistrict.Hedroppedoutofschool,workedas a peon and later as a school teacher.But the man from the states Malappu-ramdistrictwasmadeofsternerstuff:hedoggedlypursuedhiscivilservicesdream.After three attempts, in May this year,Shihab,now31,clearedtheUPSCexamwitharankof 226. With his rank in the all-India engi-neering entrance examinations, That-tarathodi Jaffer, son of a shopkeeper,could have got into any of the top col-leges in the country. But he was deter-mined to make it to an IIT and workedhardforthenextoneyear.In2011,here-alised his IIT dream, besides securing asecondrankin thestateengineeringen-tranceexams.

SHIHABANDJafferarepartofa change thats sweepingthroughMalappuram,a Mus-lim-majoritydistrictinKeralathat has traditionally been

the laggard among Keralas districtsbackward and with lower levels of lit-eracywhencomparedtotherestof thestate. But that could be changing as anew generation of Muslim youngsterspushthelimitsofeducation.

Fromaregionthatonce sentschooldropouts as unskilled workers to Gulfcountries, Malappuram district is nowgivingotherstatesarun fortheirscores.The pass percentages in class X examsovertheyearschartthatsuccessstory.In2001,thepasspercentagewasa dismal33.24. In 2002, it touched 41.23 percentandin2004,itstoodat58.77percent. Then, the big change happened.In 2010, the figure touched 86.91 percentandin2011,the districtregistereda pass percentage of 88.52, withintouching distance of the overall statepasspercentageof 91.37.Overthelastfew years, among the 14 districts inKerala,Malappuramhas hadthe highestnumber of students appearing for theclass X exam. This years topper in the

state medical entrance exam (V Irfan)andthesecondrankholderin thestateengineering entrance (ThattarathodiJaffer)arebothfromMalappuram.

This could probably then be thefirst education success story to havecome out of a Muslim district in thecountry. As per the 2001 census, Ma-lappuram is one of the 25 districts inIndiathathas aMuslimpopulationof

overonemillion.Withtwo-thirdsofitspopulationMuslim,thedistricthasthemost number of Muslims after WestBengalsMurshidabad.

Stirringsofchange

WHAT MAKES Malappurams story ofeducationalresurgencea happyoneisthe baggage of history it leaves be-hindone of a long, bitter past of ha-tredtowardsEnglishandmodernedu-cation.Theanimositydatesbacktothesecond half of the 18th century, whentheBritishkilledTipuSultanandoccu-piedMalabar.

LikeinothercoastalpartsofKerala,Christian missionaries did set upschools in Malappuram, but that didnot make an impact among the Mus-limssincetheleaderswereagainstEng-lish and even Malayalam, sayshistorianMGSNarayanan.

The establishment of the Farook

Collegein1948,thefirstdegreecollegeestablished under a Muslim manage-mentinKerala,was alandmarkdevel-opment in the history of education inthe region. In 1965, another Muslim-runcollegecameup atMambadin theeasternpartofthedistrict.

In 1968, under the initiative of theIndianUnionMuslimLeague(IUML),apartythatdominatesthepoliticsofMa-

lappuram,Calicut Universitywas estab-lishedinthedistrict,pavingthewayfortheopeningofneweducationalinstitu-tions in North Kerala. Yet, qualityschooling and higher education re-mained out of reach for Malappuramuntil15to20 yearsago.

According to Prof Hameed Chen-damangalloor, social critic and ob-server of Muslim politics, The eco-nomic progress that came with Gulfmoney in the last three decades re-flectedintheeducationsectortoo.Thefirst generation of Gulf migrantswantedqualityeducationfortheirchil-dren and that resulted in the openingofschoolsandcolleges.

What helped the district catch upwith the rest of the state was theopening up of the school educationsectortoprivateplayersinthelast15years.It helpedMalappuramthat theIUML, a partner in the Congress-led

UDF government, handled the edu-cation portfolio in successive Con-gress governments. Muslim-man-a ge d n e ws pa pe r s s u ch a sMadhyamamcampaignedfortheed-ucationalempowermentofMalappu-ram,provokingthe communitylead-ersandpoliticianstoact.

Taking a cue from their Hindu andChristian counterparts, Muslim reli-

gious organisations started severalEnglish-medium unaided schools inevery part of the district in the latenineties. Several CBSE schools cameup too. The new aspiration amongMuslims for better education was re-flected in the sprawling college cam-puses promoted by rich NRIs and atmadrassas, where local mahallu com-mittees conducted unrecognised Eng-lish-mediumschools.The trendisstillon, but the newer educational invest-mentsinMalappuramarebigandhavenoreligiousmarkersonthem.

Thepush toeducation

WHILEUNAIDEDschoolsandcollegescame up in Malappuram, the existinggovernmentandaidedprivateschoolsunderwent a makeover with improve-mentsininfrastructure.

Malappuram is the first district inthecountryto usemoderntechnology

as part of pedagogy with its smartclassrooms. In 2001, after the districtpanchayatlaunchedane-literacydrive,Malappurambecamethefirste-literatedistrictinthecountry.

By taking internet to villages, wewanted to overcome limitations of li-braries and other learning resources.Theideathatinternetaccesswoulden-ablethefamiliesofexpatriatestovideochatwiththeirmenintheGulfcaughton in Malappuram, recalls Abdurahi-man Randathani, an IUML legislatorwho was vice-president of the Malap-puram district panchayat that mootedthee-literacyproject.

By 2005, classrooms in Malappu-rams high schools had multi-mediaprojectionlabsandschoolshadEdusat(education satellite) connections foronlinelearning.ThesmartclassroomsofMalappuraminspiredthestateedu-cation department to roll out theschemeinother partsofthe state.

In 2001, the district panchayatlaunched Vijayabheri, a quality im-provement project for high schoolstudents that is credited for the dis-tricts spectacular showing in theclass X exams. It was the combinedeffort of students, teachers and par-ents that led to remarkable im-

provements in the results of theclass X exams. Every year, duringthe class X exams, teachers and par-ents camp in schools after classhours to give special training to stu-dents, says Randathani.

Along with Vijayabheri, the dis-trict panchayat has tied up with theBritish Council to improve the Eng-lishspeakingskillsofteachers.

Cominground

THE HUNGER for good education didsome collateral good: it helped water

down orthodoxy. Until a decade ago,schools under Muslim managementsand government-run Muslim schoolswouldremainclosedforamonthduringRamzan. But now, barring a few, themajority of schools follow the generalacademicca lendar.

TheRamzanbreakwouldupsettheacademiccalendar.However,a sectionstill opposes the general calendar. In

schoolsthat shutduringRamzan,spe-cial tuition programmes are held forstudents, says K Muhasin, a teacher

withagovernmentupperprimaryscho-ol for Muslims at Mithra, a village inMalappuram.

Anotherareaofinterventionwasinthemadrassas.Earlier,madrassasusedto hold classes in the morning andevening.Toenablestudentstodotheirregularschoolhomeworkandattendtotuition, most madrassas have aban-doned their evening classes. Some

14-15 THE BIG PICTURESEPTEMBER4,2011 EXPRESS

Atthe GovernmentHigherSecondarySchoolin Othukunga,Malappuram.In2011, Malappuramregisteredaclass Xpass percentageof88.52

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4,110,956LITERACY,2011

93.55%TOTALUNIV ERSITY-AFFILIATEDCOLLEGESINMALAPPURAM

84(Ofthem,13areArabiccollegesand33artsandsciencecolleges)

TEACHERSACCORDINGTOKERAL A DevelopmentReport,thenumber ofteachersinunaidedschoolsin Malappuramwentup50 timesbetween1993and 2000,whereasinneighbouring Palakkad,itwent uponly 12timesand inKozhikode17times

WINNINGLISTNumberofstudentsinthetop1,000instatemedicalentrance exam,2011

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:135

MALAPPURAM: 111

KOLLAM:122

KOTTAYAM:57

ERNAKULAM:97

Journey fromMalappuramtoDelhi

Muslim-majorityMalappuram, traditionally a laggardin educationamongKeralasdistricts,isscripting aturnaroundstory. ShajuPhilipfinds outhow

Photographs:NirmalHarindran, AmitMehra

madrassas even run English-mediumschools after the religious classes. Inmany places, madrassa education hasbeencutdowntoacoupleofhoursoverthe weekend. Some of the CBSE resi-dential schools set aside a few hourseverydayformoralteachinginlieu oftheformalmadrassaeducation.

Theideasare flowinginfast.SunnileaderMuhammedFaizysuggeststhatmadrassas,whichareusuallyvacantforthewholedayfrom10 a.m,canbetu-rned into centres of skill developmentforself-employmentprogrammes.

Accordingto MuktharUdarampoyil,formerly a madrassa teacher, commu-nityleaders arediscussingthe possibility

of starting English-medium madras-sas.Religiouscentresoflearning,suchasShariatCollege,Da-wacollegesandAsfal-Ulema Arabic College, are en-couraging their students to continuetheir general education in addition toreligiousstudies.Someofthesecollegeshave innovative programmes, like anintegrated course that has religiousstudies and MBA. Da-wa colleges in

Malappuram have a five-year pro-grammeinIslamicsubjectsanda grad-uationcoursein English.Someofthemevenoffercoachingformedicalanden-gineeringentranceexams.

The success of Malappuramsyouths in the civil services exam hasledto aspurtin trainingclassesforas-piring civil servants. Farook Collegehasacivilserviceacademy,whileMESCollege at Mambadu runs a founda-tioncourse.The MuslimServiceSoci-ety and the Mohammed Abdurahi-man Memorial Orphanage Collegehave announced their civil servicecoachingprogrammes.

The signs of change are clear on

the streets of Malappuramon aroadsidebannerwith itsmug shotsofMuslim girls who have got into engi-neeringormedicalcolleges,andonaboardthatsays:migratetoUK, StudyinLondonand Australia.Whenthesesignboardsjostleforspacewith adver-tisements ofshawarma and shawai, you know Malappuram has justturneda page.

NANDINITHILAKNEWDELHI

EVERYyear,youngstersfromMalappuramandthelargerMalabarregioncometo DelhiUniversitytopursueunder-graduateandpost-graduatestudies.

Almostallof themlearnedabouttheUniversityfromoth-ers:seniorsfromschoolwhofoundtheir waytothe Uni-versitybeforethem.

Muhsina Ahsraf, from Areekode in Malappuram,wantstowritethe civilservicesexam.HercomingtoDUisanextensionof herfathersdream.

Uppa (father) hadgot throughtoAligarh butcouldnotcome.Eventhoughno oneelsewas sureaboutsend-ingmehere alone,hewas withme,she says.Herfatherisacollegeprofessorandher motherteachesina school.Shewentas farasshe couldinher circumstances,saysMuhsina of her mothertill Trivandrum to do herteacherstrainingcourse.

Muhsinaliveswithother girlsfromdifferentparts ofMalabarata rentedflatin VijayNagarinDelhi.

HusnaMuhammed, fromPulickal inMalappuram,is a first-year Psychology Honours student at In-draprasthaCollegefor Women.Shewas introducedtoDUbyherseniors.Theeldestoffivechildren,Husnasaim is to do her PhD. I like teaching, lectureship isoneoption,shesays.

SandraVasudevan,fromThirurinMalappuram,gottoknowofDUfrom heraunt,a teacher.Shehada studentwhograduatedfromJamiaand thatshowI gottoknowof acounselling sessionat DU. When I first came homeand told them, my mother did not want me to go, shesays.Herfather,whohasbeenworkingasdriverintheMiddle-Eastforthe last26years,wassupportive.Sandraisnowa second-yearBScstudentatRamjasCollege.

The course is tough, but Sandra has coped, just theway she did when she suddenly shifted to an English-mediumschoolin class11afterstudyingfor10yearsin alocalMalayalam-mediumgovernmentschool.ShewantstodoherMScatDUandwritethecivilservicesexam.

Closesocialrelationshipshavehelpedstudentsfrom

theregiongaininformationaboutapplyingtouniversitieslikeDU,saysRaheemudheenPK,an MPhilstudentattheDepartmentofPsychologyatthe University.

Studentswhocometo UniversitieslikeDelhigobackto their old schools and help guide other students. I gobacktomyold collegeandtellothers.I havejuniorswhohavecomethisway.I joinedforMAhere, withhelpfrommyseniors,hesays.

Asmart classroomatOthukungain Malappuram.Schoolsherehavemulti-mediaprojectionlabsand useEdusatfor onlinelearning;(top) girlsfromMalappuramat DelhiUniversity

ThattarathodiJaffer withhis grandmother.He stoodsecondin thestateengineeringentranceexaminations

Aninstitutenextto theMalappuramJuma Masjidthatholds spokenEnglishclasses