Revised school timing to stay, says Kerala General Education Minister Sivankutty

General Education Minister V Sivankutty on Tuesday ruled out the prospect of the government changing its stance in revising the school timing. The revision is done only for classes 8 to 10, the minister claimed, while very few students used to attend the religious studies in these classes.

The priority is to protect the education rights of the students, Sivankutty reiterated. "The government does not object to religious education, but the academics of the students are paramount," he added.

Saying he had spoken to Jifri Thangal (Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama president Syed Mohammed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal), Sivankutty clarified that the recent meetings had no connection with school-hour change but to dispel doubts. "They have been misguided. The meeting was to clarify, not to alter," he explained.

Classes in Malappuram and Kozhikode unaided schools start at 9am, Sivankutty added.

"We have 10 schools in Gulf countries. Those schools run by the authorities there start at 9am," he said, and claimed that the government was interested in guarding the interests of all 47 lakh students in Kerala. He also clarified that there is no opposition by the government regarding the opinions of any religious group. "We are ready to discuss with anyone on extending the school hours," he said.

Regarding the padapooja matter, Sivankutty said that washing teachers', retired teachers', or any other distinguished personality's feet by students as part of customary practice will be prohibited in state schools.

"The education department has directed the director of general education to ask questions about schools where such incidents occurred. These are similar to old customs in the modern world. School officials at the helm of RSS ruled that they would provide protection to the institution for the (padapooja) ceremony.

But such schools will struggle to run the institution legally," Sivankutty said.

Community groups have to take up matters relating to their own communities or religion; education is the sphere of the democratically-elected government, according to the minister, while simultaneously indicating that religion and education should never be combined and will not be allowed to mingle under any circumstances.