The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has taken steps to replace the photograph of poet A. Ayyappan that accompanies a lesson on anthropologist and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Kerala A. Aiyyappan in the English version of the Plus Two higher secondary anthropology textbook.
The textbook was printed in 2015. The portion on Aiyappan is included in the 10th unit ‘Luminaries of Indian Anthropology’ of the text. However, the photograph that went with it was that of poet Ayyappan.
As per his life sketch in the lesson, Ayinapalli Aiyyappan was born at Pavaratty, near Thrissur, in 1905. He did his Master’s from Madras University and was awarded PhD in Social Anthropology from London University. He was a founder of the Centre for Development Studies here, professor in Indian universities, and visiting professor at Cornell University, New York. He died in 1988.
SCERT Director J. Prasad said the error had been corrected and steps taken to send the rectified version of the textbook for printing. It had also been corrected in the PDF of the textbook on the SCERT website.
Anthropology is taught in 12 schools in the State. It had been learnt that very few copies of the textbook were printed back in 2015. However, the Malayalam translation of the textbook in PDF format that was brought out later did not include the photograph. It had been ensured that the anthropology textbook to be printed this academic year would carry the photograph of the anthropologist, he said.
When contacted, anthropology teachers said they were unsure of how the mix-up occurred, but once it came to their notice in 2015, they had informed the SCERT and sought that it be corrected.
The SCERT had then directed teachers that the photograph of the poet be obscured to avoid confusion among students. The Malayalam PDF of the textbook that was brought out later did not carry the photograph.
It is learnt that the English anthropology textbook has not been re-printed, especially as fewer number of students study the English text. Hence, it was never corrected.
