Kerala government has decided to cut weight of text books by half. Students in the total literate southern state will have their books divided into two, a part meant for each term.
Schools plan to do away with mid-term exams and bifurcate books for each term
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala government has decided to cut weight of text books by half. Students in the total literate southern state will have their books divided into two, a part meant for each term. It has also been decided to limit the number of examinations to two in place of the three exams in an academic year.
“It has been decided, after academic consultations, that there should be only two examinations schedules,” education minister MA Baby told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. He said the schedule of the new system of examinations will be announced later. At present, schools in Kerala have three exam schedules, one preceding Onam vacation and another preceding Christmas vacation, apart from the final term examinations in MarchApril.
The general education department has also decided to bifurcate text books. Now, students will have to carry a half of the books for the first term and the other for the next term.
The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) had ordered the general education department to take steps to reduce the burden of school children in November 2005. The panel said that carrying of school bags by LKG and UKG students should be dispensed with. It has also observed that carrying bags with undue weight was “gross violation of human rights”.
Mukesh Jain, a businessman in Kochi, whose petition prompted the SHRC to give the ruling, had proposed the one-book-a-term solution a couple of year ago. Two schools in Kochi had already adopted the system.
s_don@dnaindia.net
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