A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF KERALAM THROUGH CARTOONS

The surplus number of comic magazines that existed in Keralam even before the official formation of the state in 1956 reinstates the affinity of the Malayalam speaking people towards cartoons. The social situations and the functioning of various institutions like education and employment were a source of inspiration for the cartoonists from Keralam. The high literacy rate of Keralam is not the product of a single day. The foundation work of this had started even before the formation of the state. This paper tries to analyse the education system of Keralam portrayed in the cartoons of cartoonists Toms, Aravindan and Thomas. The cartoons of Toms, Aravindan and Thomas portray the day-to-day life of Keralam in their social cartoons, including the school life and college life of the period of the second half of the twentieth century. There are two phases in the development of the education sector in Keralam: the first phase focusing mass education where the major capital investor was the state itself and private investment was not encouraged. The second phase witnessed a fast-paced growth and urbanization after the 1970s because of the large-scale migrant remittance. The changing faces of the education system of Keralam can be seen in the cartoons of these selectcartoonists