All Malayalam letters should be thorough to students of Class I by the end of an academic year, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said.
The Minister told mediapersons here on Tuesday that following demands from various quarters, the Malayalam alphabet had been included in school textbooks. The alphabet would be part of children’s education. It was the duty of teachers to teach children the letters and make them thorough by the end of Class I. However, there was no need for a special direction for this.
In curriculum framework
State Council of Educational Research and Training Director Jayaprakash R.K. said there was no need for any confusion as the State’s approach was to ensure that children knew all the letters by the end of Class I. The curriculum framework directed this too.
The Minister said the Kerala Education Rules (KER) needed to be amended in keeping with the times. The government was mulling amending the Kerala Education Act and the Rules as it often found itself losing in courts owing to the outdated laws.
The government, he said, was trying to complete unification of all wings of school education as recommended in the M.A. Khader committee report. The draft of the special rules in connection with the report implementation was almost ready, and once approved by the government a rearrangement would be held at all levels, right from district education officers and assistant education officers who gave approval to aided school appointments.
Own textbooks
Mr. Sivankutty hinted that the State would bring out its own textbooks for higher secondary classes if National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) revised textbooks were contrary to the State’s commitment to the Constitution and democratic and secular values. Textbooks were not meant for any specific segment, he pointed out.
He also suggested that the number of days in the school academic calendar would have to be increased as newer subjects such as vocational education, sports and art education were included in the curriculum. Discussions would be held with teachers’ organisations on this, he said.
