Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has decided to reduce the working days for classes 1 to 5 from 220 to 200 during the current academic year. Earlier, the government had increased the academic days to 220 for classes 1 to 10. However, at a meeting of the supervisory committee of the Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) held on Friday, a consensus emerged that the rule should be relaxed for classes 1 to 5.
The government had issued the order fixing 220 academic days based on the Kerala Education Rules and a directive of the High Court. During Friday’s meeting, Education Minister V Sivankutty and top officials of the General Education Department approved the view of teachers’ organisations that students up to class 5 need to attend only 800 hours of studies in 200 days as per the Right to Education Act. The minister also concurred with the argument of the teachers that forcing small children to attend classes for six days a week would yield no academic benefits.
Teachers also argued at the meeting that under the Education Rules, 1,000 hours of academics was sufficient for students in classes 6 to 8 and this could be achieved in 200 days. But the minister pointed out that according to the rules, 220 academic days are mandatory for classes 6 to 8. Even though the minister did not approve the demand, he instructed Principal Secretary Rani George to examine its feasibility.
Yet another demand of the teachers’ organisations to extend the working time of schools by one hour and reduce the academic days to 200 was also rejected by the minister.
