Thiruvananthapuram: The Malayalam alphabet is back in the school textbooks in Kerala after almost a decade. Children studying in class two have received the second volume of their Malayalam textbooks which has a page on the Malayalam alphabet (standardised set of letters).

For the First standard children, the third volume of the Malayalam textbook which they would receive after the Christmas vacation will have the Malayalam alphabet.

The alphabet, recommended by the Official Language committee, has been included as a special page at the end of the textbook.

The list of the alphabet was removed from the textbooks in 2013 when the syllabus was revised. With the rising demand to include the Malayalam alphabet in primary school textbooks, Education Minister V Sivankutty took the initiative to implement it this year itself.

The SCERT (State Council of Education Research and Training) designed the alphabet page with the background of the Kerala map.

The script revision as per the Official language committee would be implemented in the textbooks only from the next academic year. The major change is that it brings back the Koottakshara lipi (cursive alphabet) in the old script