Kerala Government Appeals for the Case of School Unification

Vinod Kakumanu
July 31, 2019, 6:04 p.m.

The government of Kerala has demanded for the withdrawal of the ruling issued by the High Court staying the merger of the three Directorates of school education.

Senior government pleader has filed the application requesting the withdrawal of the stay. The court had issued the stay order on June 17^th. The move for the unification of the Directorates which was based on the recommendations of the committee headed by the former State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has come to a naught in the face of the stay.

The state government has contended that the unification of the three Directorates is not a symbolic or cosmetic policy move but has ramifications on the availability of the quality education in the state.

It is further added that to ensure that the funds issued in the interest of school education are properly harnessed and utilized the unification of the Directorates of the school education is required. It has been stressed that the implementation of the recommendation was gradual and staged and not abrupt, neither was it unilateral as different stakeholders were duly consulted.

The government application to the court stated that the move also aims at empowering the principals of the campuses which have high schools, higher secondary and vocational higher secondary schools to provide uniformity in the governance structure. The present system comprises of multiple heads which hinders the implementation of various developmental projects and initiatives aimed at revitalizing education by creating bottlenecks and avoidable conflicts, the application added.

To bolster the case, it was stated in the application that the unification of the schools will expedite the development of the campuses housing these schools as units and aid in achieving a disciplined and drug-free campus, green-protocol and better coordination with local self-government institutions.