Schools are reopening on June 1 after the mid-summer break. As usual, many problems await the government, the student body, and the school authorities. It has to be resolved in the next three weeks available. On Friday, Education Minister V Sivankutty convened a high-level meeting to review matters related to the reopening of schools. All the suggestions raised in the meeting are helpful for the smooth running of the schools. The meeting ended with the proposal to take immediate solutions to the main problems like the functioning of the PTA, extending the working hours of the school offices till 5 pm, completing the repairs before June 1, availability of drinking water, and protection from reptiles. There are many schools that need repairs to survive the next two monsoons. Most of these are government schools. The repairs must be completed before the start of the academic year. There are still public schools with limited toilet facilities. A solution to this has to be found within the financial constraints.

One of the high-profile recommendations of the meeting was that teachers should not take private tuition under any circumstances. There is also a plan to get an affidavit from the teachers. There are teachers who take private tuition at home or in tuition centers instead of properly teaching classes in schools. Due to this, children whose financial situation does not allow them to join private tuition suffer the most. The government's move against tuition will be welcomed by all interested in the improvement of public schools. The minister's observation that corruption still exists in education offices cannot be untrue. Not only corruption but also inefficiency has also existed since time immemorial. Files are handled in such a way that the people who reach these offices in search of a solution to problems, end up losing their patience. There are thousands of applications for correcting mistakes in certificates, getting new ones to replace lost SSLC books, correcting wrong ages, etc. Even if the person comes in person after the application, the process may not be completed and the certificates may not be received in time. The problem can be resolved by constant inspection by the minister and the senior officials of the department and by taking action against the officials who fail in their duties.

It should be ensured that along with the opening of the school, the distribution of books and uniforms is completed. Children's travel facilities should also be expanded. Although most schools have more or less their own transport facilities, there are many who have to rely on public transport. Strong measures should also be taken to prevent private buses from closing their doors to children. The exam results for classes 10 and 12 will be out by the end of next week. Steps should be taken so that the 11th-class admission does not become complicated as usual. The Malabar side is vying for Plus One seats. Meanwhile, seats are usually found vacant in southern districts. There should be no delay in allocating additional batches to schools in the Malabar region. Care should also be taken to complete the admission process within the time limit. The Plus One admission process will usually stop only by the commencement of the Onam break. Many study days are lost due to this and this can be avoided if the schedule is followed properly.