Kerala govt resolves to implement Khader panel report on edu

The Kerala government Wednesday decided to implement the Khader Committee report, which proposes single directorate for education sector in the state.

The decision in this regard was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

It was also decided to implement the suggestions of the report in phases.

The cabinet has also decided to extend the date of re-opening of schools by three days to June 6, with the Ramzan festival expected to fall on June 4 or 5.

"As part of the first phase of implementation of the report, the Directorate of Public Instruction, Higher Secondary Directorate and Vocational Higher Secondary Directorate will be brought under the Directorate of General Education," a release issued by the government said.

An IAS officer would be in charge of the Directorate, it said.

Khader Commission report recommends upgrading the professional qualification of teachers and bringing the school education sector under a single directorate, in an effort to revamp it.

The Opposition has been demanding to put on hold the 'half-baked' report.

Claiming that only half of the report has been prepared and published, Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala sought to know how the government could approve it.

"It's a half-baked report. Only half of the report has been published. How can the cabinet approve it without the rest of it? The report is based on the suggestions given by theKerala School Teachers Association (KSTA).

This is a politically motivated report," Chennithala alleged and staged a walkout from the Assembly along with party members.

Meanwhile, Ravindranath told the Assembly that the move is to improve the academic standards and pointed out that the concerns of the Opposition would be addressed and the government was ready for more discussions.

Earlier, the government had called a meeting with teaching and non-teaching staff associations to discuss the implementation of the report but majority of the representatives refused to support it.