Observation that those passing SSLC exam do not know how to read and write is baseless: Minister V Sivankutty on Saji Cheriyan's remark

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: V Sivankutty, Minister for General Education and Labour, has said that the observation that those who qualify for higher studies after SSLC in Kerala do not know how to read and write is baseless. "It is a requirement of the general public that the quality of education should be further improved in the school education sector in Kerala. More projects are being conducted by education agencies including SCERT under the Department of General Education," he said.

"Curriculum reform is being implemented up to the pre-primary level. Training is provided to the teachers from time to time. Training is being given to teachers and students in advanced science and technology fields including artificial intelligence," the minister said.

"Curriculum reform work is currently underway to ensure that students beyond Class 1 learn the Malayalam alphabets. Kerala is the state that provides the best pre-primary, primary, upper primary, high school and higher secondary education in the country. Kerala will not compromise on academic excellence. Kerala still ranks first in the Union Education Ministry's development indices in terms of school education," he added.

"Controversy is being created by taking some remarks from the speech given by Minister Saji Cheriyan. If you listen to the entire speech, it is clear that he has expressed his opinion to take the general education sector to a higher level," Sivankutty pointed out.