THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One of the key ministerial portfolios and a boiling pot of happenings around the year, the new government will be entering into umpteen challenges in the education department. From PM SHRI and SSK funds to Plus One admissions, many of these require policy decisions of the government rather than an administrative nod.
With the Central government writing to the state that PM SHRI should be implemented in the state, the new government will have to take prompt action on the scheme. Along with this, the UDF will also be forced to take swift decisions on the full-fledged implementation of NEP, impaired textbook distribution, SSLC results and Plus One admissions.
With the Left government first signing an MoU with the Centre and then sending a letter to temporarily freeze it, the incumbent government will have to take a policy decision whether to implement PM SHRI or not. Sources said that the Union HRD Ministry has already sent a letter to the chief secretary of the states which have not implemented the scheme, demanding the same. The Centre had also temporarily withheld the funds for Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) due to the state not implementing the same. The impending funds, which account for more than Rs 1000 crore since 2023-24, have also affected the aid equipment distribution for disabled students and teachers’ training programmes.
“Many points in the PM SHRI document may appear as non-problematic on the periphery, but a deeper analysis is often required. One such issue will be the consolidation of schools which do not have enough student strength. With many such under-enrolled schools lying in the coastal and tribal belts, where students attend classes because of the close vicinity, clubbing a few schools can have a negative effect,” the official said.
The NEP’s emphasis on ‘Indian ethos’ could lead to the intrusion of an RSS agenda into the syllabus,” a senior official from the department added. Even though the state can decide the syllabus, the official added that the Centre is closely monitoring what is being included in the same. “As PM SHRI is in line with the National Education Policy, a clarification on the government’s stance on this has also become necessary. However, our schools had almost everything NEP recommends years before it even surfaced,” the official added.
Taking political advantage of the textbook distribution getting affected, the BJP had also stepped forward, with its state general secretary Anoop Antony commenting that the government failed to issue proper guidelines for modern education techniques. Sources also mentioned that the state is having close to Rs 250 crore due to Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited for textbook printing, despite around 70% textbooks already printed and more than 50% distributed. The previous government had also approved a 30% subject minimum for Class 10, which could raise concerns from different sides upon implementation.
Another official commented that prompt action would be necessary during the Plus One admission phase.
“The state had been allocating additional batches for the last three years in Malappuram and Kozhikode. With the SSLC results expected within a week, swift actions would be necessary to ensure every qualified student gets a seat,” he said. Along with this, SCERT has earlier recommended that an additional class ‘Balvatika’ be set up to increase the minimum age to enter Class 1 to six years.