Thiruvananthapuram: The process of school consolidation, which will dismantle the general education structure, is in the final stages. The special rule stipulating the reorganisation of education offices and the arrangement of teaching posts has been sent to the Finance Department for approval. If it gets approval, the cabinet will consider ‘school consolidation’.

With consolidation, the school structure will be divided into primary from classes 1 to 8 and secondary from classes 9 to 12. Teacher recruitment will also change accordingly. Instead of the current ‘higher secondary’, teacher recruitment will be for ‘secondary’, which includes classes 9 to 12. There will be no senior and junior posts in secondary. Once the consolidation is implemented, higher secondary teachers will have to teach in high schools as well.

An alternative to NEP

The 2020 National Education Policy (NEP) had suggested changing the general education structure. School consolidation is Kerala's alternative to changing the public education system in line with the national structure, without accepting the NEP.

The government initially hesitated to consolidate schools in the context of the economic crisis, thinking that it would have to create a large number of posts. However, due to the decrease in students owing to the birth rate and other factors, there was a situation where there were more teachers in public schools. That is when the government changed its mind. Consolidation will help redeploy additional teachers. Since teachers will be promoted and appointed to the newly created PIO post, there will be no new liability. School consolidation is also a promise in the LDF manifesto.

The educational district will cease to exist

Following consolidation, the current educational district will cease to exist. Public education will be decentralised under the three-tier panchayat system. A new post called Education Officer will come up in all local self-government institutions to supervise schools. People including head teachers will be promoted to this post. In the gram panchayat, primary school head teachers will be appointed to this post. High school and higher secondary teachers will be appointed to this post in the block panchayats.