Kerala Government to sanction 699 new plus-two batches

Thiruvananthapuram, July 24: To meet the shortage of seats for higher secondary courses, Kerala cabinet has decided to sanction 699 new plus-two batches across the state this year.

The cabinet discussed in detail and gave sanction to the report submitted by the sub-committee formed to take decision regarding sanctioning of new batches in plus-two courses, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters during cabinet briefing.

However, he said no posts would be created for this. It has also been decided to appoint guest lecturers in the newly sanctioned aided school batches. In government schools qualified teachers from Teachers' Bank will be posted.

The government has given sanction to this package as it is cost effective, he said.

The formula arrived at was with minimum financial burden for the state, Chandy said, rejecting criticism that Rs 400 crore proposal was accepted. New batches have been sanctioned in 131 schools in panchayats which did not have plus-two schools, he said.

Out of these schools, 43 are in government schools. In another case, 95 new Higher Secondary Schools have been sanctioned in districts from Ernakulam to Kasaragod.

Many of the students in this region have been unable to get admission to plus-two courses due to shortage of batches. Besides the above parameters, additional plus-two batches will be allotted in all 14 districts, he said adding 'there will be total of 699 new batches this year'.

The Chief Minister said that the government arrived at a decision on plus-two batches and new higher secondary schools on the basis of necessity. It was the policy of the government that no student willing to continue study was denied the opportunity to pursue higher studies, he said.

The Government has also imposed restrictions while allotting new batches. It requires a minimum of 40 students to sanction a new batch. Government was also seriously considering whether it was viable to continue with schools where students strengthe was below 10.

'There are about 200 such schools in this category', he said.

PTI