THE Kolkata Plenum of the CPI(M) had noted the political backwardness among its members and advocated urgent measures to impart political education in order to enable the members to carry out the propagation of its positions on various contemporary issues. The plenum also pointed out that attracting middle class intelligentsia to the Party fold is also important in the conduct of the struggle against ruling class ideologies. This is all the more significant in the context of the political rise of the Hindutva forces and the assumption of Hindutva as the state ideology, and the continuous attempts by the ruling ideologues and the media to befuddle the thinking of the masses even on the pressing questions of everyday existence.

Basing itself on the perspective put forward by the Kolkata Plenum, the Kerala state committee of the CPI(M)organised a seven day State Party School at the EMS Academy, Thiruvananthapuram, from October 29 to November  4, 2019. Representing all the districts as well as the class and mass organizations, 158 comrades attended the school. Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Party School.

The school was designed to provide a clear understanding of the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism as well as an in depth perspective regarding the CPI(M) Programme as well as its organisational principles. The syllabus of the school contained 24 topics, which were organised into six modules. The modules and the topics selected were the following:

Module1: Dialectical Materialism

a) Idealism and materialism in India

b) Growth of contemporary science

c) Principles of dialectics

d)Marxist epistemology

Module 2: Historical Materialism

a) Growth of modern social thought

b) Historical roots of Marxism

c) Marxist historical perspective

d) Marxist concept of revolution

Module 3: Capitalism and the Communist Movement

a) Growth of capitalism from merchant capital to neo-colonialism

b) Contemporary Capitalism

c) History of the communist movement from communist manifesto to socialist revolutions

d) Contemporary trends

Module 4: Growth of communist movement in India

a) Historical genesis of Indian society

b) Growth of capitalism in India

c) Formation of the Indian ruling class

d) Communist movement in India up to 1964

Module 5: CPI(M) Programme

a) Ideological debates leading to the programme

 b) The class perspective on Indian revolution

c) Changes in the programmatic understanding 1964 to the present

d) Evolution of the political tactical line

Module 6: Organisational Tasks

a) Principles of Party Organisation

b) Party and Mass Organisations

c) Socio-political trends in Kerala

d) Party work among the masses

Each module was divided into four lectures and were handled by different lecturers. Each lecture was of one hour duration, and at the end of each module, group discussions on the entire module were conducted. The class schedule was strictly regulated by MV Govindan, who was the camp director. The questions emerging from the group were answered at the end by the teachers who were constituted into a panel. Only one module was taught in a day, the six modules were thus completed in six days. The teachers included S Ramachandran Pillai, MA Baby, Thomas Isaac, MV Govindan, Elamaram Kareem, A Vijayaraghavan, P Rajeev, KN Balagopal, CP Narayanan, Dinesan Puthalath and KN Ganesh. Prakash Karat delivered a special lecture on ‘Class and Caste in Indian Society’. Brinda Karat gave another special lecture on the woman question. Both the lectures sparked intense discussions among the participants.

Four documents were distributed in the session. One was a collection of class notes for all the classes including lectures of Prakash Karat and Brinda Karat, second was a set of articles explaining the Party Programme, third, Central Committee documents on Party and mass organisations, and finally a set of readings on historical materialism by Marx, Engels and Lenin.

Another feature of the school was the use of testing. Tests were conducted not on the basis of any formal comparative individual estimates, but from the perspective of a political assessment of capabilities of the learners in advancing their consciousness. The questions concentrated not merely on their information base but also on the accuracy and precision of their understanding of the political positions of the Party on various issues and their ability for dialectical judgement. Most of the participants showed improvement in all the three indicators from pre-test to post test conducted at the end of the study programme. The women participants displayed remarkable advance in their understanding, which was highly inspiring.

Another feature of the school was the yoga exercises conducted every day morning, from 6 am. Camp director emphasised the importance of physical dexterity and self- discipline for all the comrades.

A camp fair of the participants was conducted on the penultimate night, that is on November 3, in which the comrades gave ample evidence of their prowess in singing, reciting poetry, dancing, and acting. More inspiring was the degree of solidarity and comradeliness that developed among all participants.

The participants provided their assessment of the school at the end of the session. All the respondents appreciated the innovations brought in the school, and expressed their readiness to carry forward the education process to all the Party members. All the participants were highly appreciative of the fact that two Polit Bureau members –            S Ramachandran Pillai and MA Baby were present right through the proceedings of the school, taking note of the process and intervening whenever necessary. On the seventh day, a preliminary discussion was conducted on the modalities of educating all the Party members.

In overall terms, the State Party School was a new experience for all the participant comrades. This has created a new enthusiasm for learning, and the application of the matters learnt in implementing the mass line of the Party. The comrades are committed to carry forward the same enthusiasm in the forthcoming process of Party education also.