Young talents’ art to figure in Kerala school textbooks

A select bunch of 23 children from across the State had got the opportunity to take part in an SCERT camp to prepare textbooks illustrations

On Friday afternoon, in a hall full of children and art materials at the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) here in the State capital, Biyaanka, a Plus One Commerce student at GV HSS, Mangayil, Maradu, was fighting boredom and some pain in her arm. In front of her was a colourful illustration on pollination that she had done for the new Class VI Science textbook to be introduced in schools in the 2025-26 academic year.

Another illustration done by her needed colouring, but on the second day of a camp at the SCERT to prepare illustrations for the new textbooks, children’s energies were flagging after all the drawing and colouring they had done. Responding to her mother’s gentle queries, Biyaanka who has undergone cochlear implantation surgery for hearing problems did get down to completing her work before taking the train home.

Just in front of her, Ameya K. of MRS, Chalakkudy, was illustrating a game for a Class II textbook. Beside her, was Sreedevi S. of AMMRHSS, Kattela. drawing birds on a tree.

Select 23 children, including nine differently abled children and the remaining from the tribal community, including those studying in model residential and other tribal schools, from across the State had got the opportunity to take part in the camp at the SCERT. The children, in classes IV to XI, were making illustrations for textbooks to be used in classes II, IV, VI, VIII, and X the next academic year.

Satheeshkumar K., research officer, Art Education, SCERT, said the children were used to drawing pictures but the challenge lay in making illustrators of them. For this, the SCERT research officers concerned first explained to them concepts and how their illustrations would help to convey them. The students were also given an idea of page engineering and space availability as is given to adults who usually draw illustrations for the SCERT textbooks. On Friday, the students were given portions of the text for which they would need to make illustrations, and the research officers interacted with them. Four artists Deepesh T., Aruna Alancheri, Dhanya M.C., and Prasad Kumar K.S. guided the students over the two days.

The SCERT research officers categorised the students according to what they were adept at, be it drawing birds and butterflies, or animals, cartoons, or nature. Some of them even made up to three illustrations in a day. Two or three of the students were comfortable with everything they were asked to draw. Pencil drawing, watercolours, and crayons were the media used for the illustrations.

Some of the illustrations were selected for inclusion in textbooks on the spot. In other cases, especially in the case of differently abled children who were not able to finish the illustration in one sitting, the research officers gave them opportunity to redraw it till they got it right once they returned home and email it to the research officers concerned.