Kerala Minister claims school timings can't be planned based on convenience of religious groups

Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty on Monday hardened his position against religious and community groups encroaching on the functioning of educational institutions and added that school timings in the whole state would not be decided based on their convenience.

He clarified that neither his department nor he were involved in the time changes of the state schools during the ongoing academic year.

"There are some religious and community organizations in the state. We cannot change the schedule of our schools and children's exams according to their convenience," he told journalists here.

To aid the new timings of state schools, the minister also cited the examples of school timings of Kendriya Vidyalayas in the state as well as in Gulf nations.

"We will try to convince one and all about this. There will be a meeting with representatives of school managements on Wednesday," he further added.

Sivankutty also said as per the rules and regulations of the Right to Education, schools should have 220 working days.

According to sources in the General Education Department, the meeting will be held at Sivankutty's chamber in Thiruvananthapuram on July 23 afternoon.

One representative from each management is expected to attend the meeting, where the minister shall lay out the reasons why the school hours are being altered by the government, they further added.

Sivankutty had recently cleared that school hours cannot be modified in order to "accommodate a specific community", as the government would need to examine the interests of lakhs of students.

He stated that the Kerala High Court order had prompted the 30-minute increase in school timing, and any aggrieved person can seek legal recourse.

High school students (classes 8-10) will have 15 minutes of additional morning and evening classes on all working days except Fridays under the new schedule, to help schools complete the minimum 1,100 instructional hours annually.

The minister's clarification comes amid growing Muslim criticism, including that of the Sunni clerical body Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, which contends that the "long hours will disturb religious studies."