THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As Kerala is about to celebrate Mother Language Day on February 21, only 42 percent of children will be writing the SSLC exam in Malayalam medium this year. 57.20 percent of children will be writing exams in English medium. A total of 4,19,363 people are appearing for the exam this year. 2,39,881 students will write exams in English medium. 1,76,158 students will write exams in Malayalam medium, 2,041 in Kannada medium and 1,283 in Tamil medium.

The number of students appearing for the exam in English medium has been increasing since 2015. Last year there were 2,31,606 students in English medium. This time, the number has increased to 2,39,881. The number of students in Malayalam medium has reduced from 1,91,756 to 1,76,158. The big difference came after the English medium was introduced in government schools with the aim of preventing children from going to unaided schools.