KOCHI: The Kerala High Court quashed the order of the director of general education declaring 25 Saturdays as working days for the academic year 2024-2025 for the schools governed under the Kerala Education Act and Rules. The court said that the decision to declare Saturdays as working days was taken without properly hearing the views of the stakeholders. The views of experts in education and psychology of children to assess the impact on their mental health were also not considered, said the court.
Justice Ziyad Rahman clarified that the judgment shall be made applicable to the coming Saturdays, which are declared as working days as per the calendar. The court issued the order on the petitions filed by the Kerala Pradesh School Teacher’s Association, Private School Graduate Teachers Association, Kerala (PGTA) and others challenging the decision of making Saturdays working days for the schools.
The court directed the state to reconsider the matter after taking into account the views of the stakeholders and experts as well as the requirements under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The court observed that the director had travelled beyond his powers while declaring 25 Saturdays as working days in the academic calendar, which was a deviation from the policy and statutory declaration as acknowledged in Rule 4(3) Chapter VII of the Kerala Education Rules. Such a decision could have been taken only by the state government by following the procedure in this regard, said the court.