Kerala to pursue legal action against Centre over PM SHRI-linked fund block, says Education Minister

Kerala schools to reopen on June 2, facing financial aid issues due to disagreement with NEP 2020.

Schools in Kerala will reopen for the 2025-26 academic year on June 2.

Speaking to mediapersons in Alappuzha on Monday, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said the State-level inauguration, Praveshanolsavam, would be held at Government Higher Secondary School, Kalavoor, Alappuzha. It will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on June 2.

He said that Kerala would proceed with legal action against the decision of the Union Ministry of Education to withhold financial assistance amounting to ₹1,500.27 crore to the State under various Centrally sponsored education schemes, including the PM SHRI scheme.

“The Central government withheld the funds on the condition that Kerala adopt the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and sign the memorandum of understanding related to the PM SHRI scheme. Kerala has expressed its disagreement with the NEP. Concerns regarding the policy have also been raised in the General Council of the NCERT and in discussions with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. However, the Centre has not reconsidered its stance,” Mr. Sivankutty said.

He said that preliminary discussions had been held with the Tamil Nadu government, which shares similar concerns regarding the NEP, on forming a joint front.

“As per Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s directive, I held two rounds of talks with the Tamil Nadu Minister for School Education. A joint meeting between the Education Ministers of both States is scheduled to take place in two weeks to develop a coordinated legal and policy stance to protect the rights of States in the education sector,” the Minister said.

Mr. Sivankutty said the government-appointed expert committee that studied school working days had submitted its report, which included “practical recommendations”. “According to the current system of five working days a week with five academic hours per day, Classes I to VII in Kerala receive a total of 975 academic hours per year. This is significantly lower than the international norm, which ranges between 1,000 and 1,250 hours. It is also lower than that of eleven other Indian States. These matters were duly considered by the committee,” he said.