MALAYALAM MISSION LAUNCHED WEB MAGAZINE FOR NRI CHILDREN

         MALAYALAM MISSION LAUNCHED WEB MAGAZINE FOR NRI CHILDREN                                                                                         Meedhu Miriyam Joseph

Providing a window to their homeland's culture, the Malayalam Mission has launched a web magazine, Pookaalam, for the children of non-resident Keralites (NRKs) across the globe. It will complement the mission's certificate courses in Malayalam, for which takers have been increasing since its inception in 2010.

The Malayalam Mission, a project under the Kerala government, is an initiative to teach non-resident Malayalis their mother tongue. The mission is under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and includes poets O.N.V. Kurup and Sughatha Kumari, among others, as members of its governing body.

“The mission was started to provide a platform for the children to learn the language as it was seen that children were drifting away from knowing about Kerala's culture and taking pride in being a Malayali,” said K. Suresh Kumar, director of the mission, which comes under the Departments of Official Language and Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs.

The courses are prepared in such a way as to provide an over-all development in the children's language skills. While the certificate course is named Kanikonna (Classes 1 and 2) , the diploma course for Classes 3 and 4 is Suryakanthi . The higher diploma course is Ambal for Classes 5, 6, and 7 , and the senior higher diploma course Neelakurinji is for Classes 8, 9, and 10 . Each course has nine discourses that provide the children with an overall understanding of the history, culture, art and social structure of Kerala.

The learning centers are set up with the help of Malayali organisations in different parts of the world. The mission has expanded with more than 25,000 students attending free classes on Sundays. Homemakers are given special training and workshops on the curriculum and they work on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Suresh said the addition of the web magazine provided for online interaction among members and teachers of the centres.

                                                    Prof. John Kurakar