THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Making world-class education available to students in Kerala is part of the State Government’s polaicy, Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb said here on Thursday.
The Minister was elaborating on the various projects under the government’s Mission 676 programme.
He said that both the General Education and Higher Education Departments had lined up innovative projects as part of Mission 676, aimed at converting educational institutions into centres of excellence.
The Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP), Walk With a Scholar (WWS), Community Colleges, Fostering Linkages in Academic Innovation and Research (FLAIR), Scholar Support Programme, K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts and LBS Integrated Institute of Science and Technology are among the flagship programmes of Mission 676, he said.
The Minister said that other projects, such as Student Entrepreneurship Scheme and joint research activities with foreign universities, were the dream projects of the state.
He said that the decision to increase the quality of colleges and set up a Civil Services Academy were steps that would bring positive changes to Kerala’s education sector. The government has decided to encourage arts, sports and job-oriented education in schools for which Rs five crore has been earmarked under a project called ‘ASWAS’ (Arts, Sports, Work Education and School), Rabb said.
The government will lay stress on sports, e-learning and upgradation of select schools into world-class institutions. Rabb said that the government would also focus on children needing special care by implementing training programmes from them.