THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the High Court disallowing the sanctioning of those higher secondary schools and batches which did not have the recommendation of a committee headed by Director of Higher Secondary Education, the government has scaled down the number of newly sanctioned batches to 415 from 700.
A fresh Government Order with the new list of batches will be issued shortly. According to top sources in the Higher Secondary Directorate, High Schools in 121 panchayats will be upgraded to Higher Secondary Schools by sanctioning one Plus One batch each. These are panchayats where there are no Higher Secondary schools at present. It is to be noted that in the list okayed by the Cabinet sub-committee, 131 panchayats were included.
In the second category, 91 High Schools in eight northern districts from Ernakulam to Kasaragod will be upgraded as Higher Secondary. The total batches in this lot will be 136.
While schools in Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur will get two batches each, schools in the remaining four districts will have one batch each.
The list okayed by the Cabinet sub-had proposed upgradation of 95 schools in northern districts, thereby creating 143 batches.
According to the revised list, 158 additional Plus One batches will be created in existing Higher Secondary Schools from Ernakulam to Kasaragod.
The Cabinet sub-committee had proposed 426 additional Plus One batches in 400 schools. The highlight of the revised list is that southern districts have been completely avoided for sanctioning of additional Plus One batches. The revised list are those which were initially vetted by the committee headed by Director of Higher Secondary Education and also figured in the list approved by the Cabinet sub-committee.