Thiurvananthapuram: Ernakulam,
Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram districts occupy the top three
positions in the development matrix evolved in a study commissioned by
the Planning Board. Idukki, Kasargod and Wayanad are at the bottom.
However, Thiruvananthapuram  district, in spite of its top score, fared
poorly in health and education indicators.

The study,
carried out by Elphin Tome Joe of CDS, used 25 indicators to generate
the matrix and analyse inter-district socio-economic variations in the
state. The indicators include health (infant mortality rate, maternal
mortality rate), educational status (dropout ratios, number of art,
science and professional colleges), social factors (suicide rates, road
accidents) and economic considerations (per capita income, investment in
SSE/MSME sectors, mobile and telephone penetration and tourism
arrivals). These indicators were categorised into three separate
‘spaces:’   basic space,  social space and economic space.

The
basic space refers to health indicators like infant and maternal
mortality rates and infection rate and still birth ratio and
availability of doctors. The social space refers to education and social
indicators like dropout rates, number of professional colleges, suicide
rate and road accidents. The economic space refers to per capita
income, investments and tourism arrivals.

Thiruvananthapuram 
performed below average in the basic and social spaces. “The capital
performs poorly for the first three indicators of the basic space,
namely infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and still birth
ratio; a reflection perhaps of the level of inequality in access to
medical care for the mother and child,” the study states.

The
dropout ratio for LPS in Thiruvananthapuram is high and this pattern is
seen in UPS also. However, it is significantly reduced in HPS,
indicating that those students who  stay within the system beyond UPS
continue until they finish their schooling years.

Surprisingly,
the SSLC pass percentage for Thiruvananthapuram is one of the worst.
“This is shocking considering that Thiruvananthapuram is the capital
city and access to quality education would not be generally seen as a
problem,” the study notes.