Priorities Matter

The Public Education Protection Mission and its follow-up Vidyakiranam Mission, launched as part of the Nava Keralam action plan in the academic year 2017-18, have brought about revolutionary changes in the educational history of Kerala. The coordinated efforts of the government, teachers associations, public representatives and the general public laid the foundation for this substantial progress

Development of Infrastructure

In the last nine years, public schools in Kerala have been upgraded to international standards in terms of physical infrastructure. With the help of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), an investment of Rs. 1,427
crore has been made in this sector.

• Out of 141 buildings worth Rs 5 crore, 139 have been completed.
• Out of 386 buildings worth Rs 3 crore, 179 have been completed.
• Out of 446 buildings worth Rs 1 crore, 195 have been completed.

The success of the project is indicated by the completion of 513 out of a total of 973 school buildings. Along with this, development works worth Rs. 5000 crore have been implemented through Plan Funds, NABARD, Local Self- Government Institutions, People’s Representatives’ Asset Development Funds and SSK schemes, a record that cannot be claimed by any other state in the country. Support has also been provided specifically for aided schools through the Challenge Fund.

For quality education – Subject Minimum

Developing material facilities is certainly commendable, but for real progress, it is essential to ensure the quality of education. For this, the concept of subject minimum was implemented in the academic year 2024-25. Its aim is to ensure the basic educational capability of every student. In the first phase, 86,603 students of class 8 who did not get the subject minimum in the public examination were trained and the assessment process was completed. It is planned to implement this in classes 5, 6, 7 and 9 in the coming academic year. Meanwhile, the Union government has once again adopted an approach that encourages the idea of failure. This is likely to discourage children from pursuing education.

Textbook Revision and Uniform Distribution

Textbooks for classes 1 to 10 have been revised after a long gap of 16 years. The process of distributing 3.8 crore books before the opening of schools has been completed. Pre-primary and higher secondary textbooks will also be revised this academic year. The textbooks for class 10 have been distributed even before the end of the class 9 exams. Handloom uniforms have been distributed for the academic year 2025-26. The uniform allowance for the year 2024-25 has been distributed in full.

Qualified Teachers, the Cornerstone

Teacher qualifications and training are the basis of education. Kerala selects qualified teachers on the basis of the K-TET exam. But still, more than 2,500 teachers have not qualified for the K-TET. The exam has been announced this year for those who did not get the desired result in the last year’s exam. Training programmes are also being implemented based on this.

Clarity on Differently-abled Teachers

Clarity has been achieved in the appointment of differently-abled teachers based on the Supreme Court, High Court judgments and government orders. So far, 2,350 appointments have been completed.

File Adalat – Solution to Long-pending Problems

Out of the 4,597 complaints received in the file adalats held in Ernakulam, Kollam and Kozhikode regions, 2,648 were resolved on the same day of the adalat. Subsequently, 79,140 files were resolved in the office adalat and the process is progressing at the directorate level as well. The decisions made, actions taken and the effectiveness displayed by the state government to improve public education as part of the Nava Kerala action plan are exemplary at the national level. Kerala is taking the public education sector forward with the cooperation of teachers, public representatives and the general public at large