Latest news with #V.Sivankutty
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Physical education teacher-student ratio rejigged
The physical education teacher-student ratio in schools in the State will be rejigged to 1:300 to protect teachers who had lost their posts. A meeting convened by Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty here recently reached the decision. It will be sent for the Chief Minister's approval. The physical education teacher-student ratio currently is 1:500. The meeting was held to discuss a slew of demands raised by school physical education teachers. When the 1:300 ratio is considered for upper primary (UP) classes, physical education teachers who lose their posts will be protected by clubbing the lower primary wing of the school too with the UP. To protect high school physical education teachers, the number of physical education periods in class X too will be considered. At present, one post of physical education teacher is created if there are five divisions across classes VIII and IX. Class X divisions are currently not considered for the appointment. So if there is a division fall in classes VIII and IX, then the number of periods in class X will be considered to protect the teachers. In high schools with UP section, high school physical education teachers can be clubbed with the UP wing to protect them. Physical education teachers allege that an order protecting them had been issued as a temporary arrangement in 2017 when they had staged protests to press their demands. These had been issued since then too, but their demands such as change in teacher-student ratio through amendment in the Kerala Education Rules had not been addressed. The physical education teachers have been demanding that all students in State schools receive physical education training. At present, lower primary classes have no physical education periods. Higher secondary classes have physical education periods but no teachers. There are only 1,800-odd physical education teachers in the State. Physical education teachers estimate that 85% of UP schools and 45% of high schools have no physical education teachers. They point out that 11 teachers lost their posts last year while there were more this year.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
All Kerala Brahmins Association district conference held
The All Kerala Brahmins Association (AKBA) has urged the government to raise the income limit for schemes implemented by the Kerala State Welfare Corporation for Forward Communities to ₹8 lakh. AKBA officebearers placed their request before the government in a representation to General Education Minister V. Sivankutty during the 55th district conference of AKBA held here on Sunday. The association also urged the government to introduce linguistic minority reservation for the youth hailing from the Tamil Brahmin community in higher education and government jobs. Mr. Sivankutty inaugurated the district conference. AKBA Thiruvananthapuram district president T.S. Mani presided. Fort ward councillor S. Janaki Ammal, AKBA State president H. Ganesh, general secretary M. Sankaranarayanan were among those present. The conference also elected T.S. Mani as the district president and R. Suresh as the secretary for the 2025-27 period. V. Sathyavageeswaran and S. Kasturirangan have been elected as the vice-presidents.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Minister orders study into labour issues at Vizhinjam port
Minister for Labour V. Sivankutty has tasked Additional Labour Commissioner K.M. Sunil with conducting a detailed study on labour issues at the Vizhinjam port. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Mr. Sivankutty here on Saturday on the directions of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The meeting was held following complaints by trade unions that headload workers were being denied work at the Vizjhinjam port. The unions had demanded that steps be taken for the headload workers to continue their current work in areas that came under the jurisdiction of the Customs. The port authorities informed the meeting that with the second phase development of the port under way, the headload workers would be provided suitable jobs. The study would look into the job sectors there and the workers who worked in those sectors, the total number of workers as per the Kerala Headload Workers Act, how many contractors did they work under, and if any section of workers had lost work in any sector. The Minister said Mr. Sunil would submit the study report within a month. Till then, status quo would be maintained. Labour Secretary K. Vasuki, Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. Managing Director Divya S. Iyer, Mr. Sunil; Vizhinjam port authorities, and representatives of trade unions took part in the meeting.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
Kerala student's electrocution: Thevalakkara school manager dismissed
The government has dismissed the manager of Thevalakkara Boys High School, in Kollam district and entrusted the District Education Officer (DEO) with the school's administration. A Class VIII student had died owing to electrocution from an overhead power line inside the school on July 17, 2025. Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty told mediapersons in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday (July 26, 2025) that a report of Director of General Education (DGE) Shanavas S. had found grave dereliction of duty on the part of the manager R. Thulasidharan Pillai. Electrocution of school student: Kerala government orders inquiry Earlier, the school headmistress Suja S. had been suspended from service after the Kollam Assistant Education Officer (AEO) visited the school and found lapses on her part in ensuring safety of the students. Mr. Sivankutty said the government could take over the school's management as per Section 14 of the Kerala Education Act, 1958, if it appeared that the manager had neglected to perform his duties. The school management, particularly the manager, had failed to ensure student safety as part of school reopening arrangements. The death of Midhun from electrocution was prima facie the result of lapses on the part of the manager in discharging his responsibilities as per Kerala Education Rules (KER) Chapter III Section 9. Accordingly, the manager had been issued a show-cause notice by the Kollam AEO as per KER Chapter III Section 7. His reply stated that there had been no deliberate lapses on his part in ensuring students' safety and that he had tried to discharge his duties properly. However, the manager's reply was found to be unsatisfactory and he was deemed unfit to hold the post of manager of Thevalakkara boys and girls high school. 'The Kollam DEO would act as the manager for the smooth administration of the school till a new appointment was made,' Mr. Sivankutty said.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Conference to kick off higher secondary curriculum revision
The General Education department will organise a conference here on Friday to garner public opinion and hold discussions with stakeholders on the higher secondary curriculum revision that is being launched in the State. Following curriculum revision implemented for Classes I to X, students up to high school have received new textbooks in a phased manner. Now, the stage is set for revision of higher secondary textbooks published by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). Ahead of it, a discussion with stakeholders, including students and representatives of their organisations, teachers' organisations, academics, other experts, education officers, and members of the public, will be held at Tagore Theatre here. Minister for Finance K.N. Balagopal will perform the State-level inauguration of the public discussions at 10 a.m. Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty will preside. Kerala State Planning Board vice-chairperson V.K. Ramachandran will deliver the keynote address and release a few publications of the SCERT. Higher Secondary Principal Secretary Sharmila Mary Joseph will be the chief guest. Rationale for revision Following the inaugural, SCERT Director Jayaprakash R.K. will present the concept note for the curriculum revision. It will delve into the rationale for the revision; its context, particularly at the national level; and the changes in the State's higher education sector which the higher secondary classes are a stepping stone for. At present, both the SCERT and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks are in use in the higher secondary classes. These comprise 44 NCERT titles that were prepared as per the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, and include those for subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, History, Political Science, Geography, Economics, and Sociology. These will continue to be used till a revision by the NCERT is effected. Revision of 80 titles published by the SCERT will be done. These include textbooks mostly for languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Urdu, and Arabic; subjects such as Journalism, Gandhian Studies, Anthropology, Philosophy, Home Science, Music; foreign languages such as German, French, and Syriac; and those for Computer Science and Computer Applications.
