Bangalore: A prominent Malayalam poet has requested all universities and schools to stop teaching his poems, the unique protest against perceived falling standards of teaching and learning coming as a shock to many in Kerala, the country's most literate state.

Balachandran Chullikkad, 61, said: "I am begging them to exclude my poems from all syllabi and all researches."

"I don't want my poems to be taught to students in a system dominated by pitiable teaching standards and liberal valuations whose only aim is to ensure everyone gets good marks," Chullikkad told The Telegraph.

A poet known for his bold writings, Chullikkad has a massive fan following among Malayalis, who love his expression of anguish and anger. Among the few who do not accept awards and recognitions for his writings, Chullikkad also has a successful acting career in Malayalam cinema and television. He is a voice-over artist and lyricist too.

"The nexus between the government, universities and businessmen running educational institutions shower marks on students who make basic mistakes. I don't want my poems to be part of such a system," Chullikkad said.

The trigger appeared to be a recent event where he was invited for a poetry-reading session. "I was given a note requesting me to read a particular poem. But it was shocking to see the note (in Malayalam), written by a postgraduate student, full of spelling mistakes," Chullikkad said.

"Money, caste, religion and political influence play a massive role in appointing teachers with insufficient skills. The students who learn the language from such teachers become teachers of future generations," he said. Chullikkad agreed the fall in standards was not overnight.

"The deterioration happened over 25 years of inefficient teaching, liberal valuations where pass percentage was the only aim and extremely poor learning aided by even more pathetic policy-makers who couldn't care less," the poet said, slamming both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Opposition United Democratic Front.

Chullikkad said none of his works was written for academia. "I just write for myself and those who love my work. I did not offer my poems to any educational institution.

"But I cannot stop them from including my works in their curriculum. Hence my appeal not to teach them," he said.

The poet didn't see any hope in a course correction by the state's education system. "I have no hope of any positive change even after my protest," he added.

Renowned author and president of the Kerala Progressive Writers' Association, K.P. Ramanunni, echoed Chullikkad's view and said there was cause for concern. "It's a sad situation. Even language students can't write without spelling mistakes these days," Ramanunni said.

"Language is the home of being," he said, quoting the 19th German philosopher Martin Heidegger. "I would say mother tongue is the home of being. But sadly, language teaching has hit new lows," Ramanunni said.

A professor of Malayalam at MG College in state capital Thiruvananthapuram, Ajayapuram Jyotishkumar, questioned why it took so long for Chullikkad to act.

"Policy-makers and cultural and literary icons like Chullikkad are responsible for this state of affairs, as they kept mum when the revamped educational system affected elementary learning."

Jyotishkumar blamed students' over-dependence on modern gadgets. "A lot of students learn poetry on WhatsApp, unlike reading a book and digesting the essence," he said.Professor of Malayalam at Calicut University, K.M. Anil, agreed with the allegation of falling standards.

"Chullikkad's poems have immense depth, which is perhaps the reason why some of today's students - who are weak in fundamentals - don't follow him so easily," Anil said."But one of the main reasons for the lack of depth in students is the semester system. Students don't get the time to delve deep into what they learn. Instead, they are always busy preparing for exams that come once in six months," the professor said.