Thiruvananthapuram: With preparations for the local body elections disrupting the school education calendar, the General Education Department is considering holding the December mid-year examinations in two phases. Government sources said the Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) committee will meet soon to finalise the plan.

One proposal suggests conducting the primary school examinations first in December, while exams for the remaining classes would be split into two phases — from December 15 to 19, and after the Christmas vacation. Schools are expected to close on December 19 and reopen on December 29. The meeting will finalise the revised timetable.

According to the existing school calendar, the mid-year examinations are scheduled from December 11 to 18, with higher secondary exams beginning on December 9. The plan was to complete all exams and close schools for the Christmas holidays on December 19.

However, the schedule has been disrupted by the local body elections set for December 9 and 11. Teachers will be assigned to election duty, and many schools will serve as polling stations. For two to three days, schools will remain entirely under the control of the Election Commission, officials said.