THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has announced changes to the academic calendar for 2025-26, increasing school hours by 30 minutes from Monday to Thursday for the high school section.
Additionally, two Saturdays will be designated as working days for the Upper Primary section, while six Saturdays will be set aside for the High School section. These adjustments are being made to meet the minimum instructional days required by education regulations.
The decision comes after an ultimatum from the High Court to ensure that the number of instructional days is sufficient. The government acted quickly to finalise the new academic calendar just two days before schools are set to reopen on June 2. According to the Kerala Education Rules (KER), a minimum of 220 instructional days is mandated each year.
A statement from General Education Minister V Sivankutty’s office said that the increased class timings will apply only to the High School section, with classes starting 15 minutes earlier and ending 15 minutes later than the current schedule.
With these additional hours and the six designated Saturdays, the High School section will now have a total of 204 instructional days, meeting the requirement of at least 1,100 instructional hours for students in Classes VIII to X.
For the Upper Primary section, the inclusion of two additional Saturdays as working days will bring the total instructional days to 200, ensuring 1,000 instructional hours for students in Classes V to VII. Meanwhile, the Lower Primary section (Classes I to IV) already meets the requirement with 198 instructional days or 800 instructional hours, so no additional class hours or Saturdays have been designated for this group.
