Thiruvananthapuram: The Department of General Education is planning to transform traditional Independence Day celebrations in schools into educational sessions. Rather than the customary flag hoisting, sweet distribution, and early dispersal, the focus will shift towards educating students about the struggles behind the nation's independence. This approach is also being considered for other significant days like Gandhi Jayanti and Republic Day.

The objective behind this shift is to mark these historically significant days as learning opportunities instead of holidays. By integrating them into the academic calendar, the department aims to ensure students engage in meaningful activities rather than regular classroom lessons. This method could also help maintain the required number of instructional days.

A committee tasked with exploring strategies to achieve 220 working days in an academic year is evaluating this approach. The Khader Committee had earlier recommended that such days should be utilised to impart knowledge to students instead of granting holidays.

Currently, classes I to V are required to have 200 working days with 800 study hours, while classes VI to VIII need 220 working days with 1,000 study hours. The Right to Education Act mandates these standards only up to class VIII. Achieving 200 working days is generally feasible for lower primary (LP) classes. However, the government is finding ways to meet the requirement of 220 working days for upper primary (UP) and high schools.

On average, Kerala schools currently have only about 195 working days. To address this, the committee has been formed to explore solutions. Although most organisations are against making Saturdays working days, there is a proposal to use Saturdays for academic activities instead of having six continuous working days. Implementing this could add seven additional study days in the upcoming academic year.

Another proposal is to organise sports festivals on Saturdays, allowing extra days for studies. Extending the school day by half an hour is also being considered. According to officials, this adjustment could provide two more study days each month.