Education revamp: Kerala SCERT to submit suggestions this week

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Moving teachers out of administrative responsibilities, promoting sports among students, and increased in-service training to bolster professional practices among teachers are some of the key recommendations set to be put forth by State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) before the state government this week. Part of the efforts to revamp the states school education sector, the suggestions are likely to be included in SCERTs vision document, which aims to revolutionise the education sector by 2031, the 75th year of Keralas formation. While broad areas with scope for improvement were detected by the department earlier, the Vision 2031 education seminar provided clear insights into this, SCERT officials said. The vision document, comprising all the key suggestions, is in the final stage of drafting, SCERT director Jayaprakash R K told TNIE . Taking insights from the seminar discussions, the SCERT will suggest that teachers should not be burdened with administrative responsibilities, like the maintenance of accounts of government schemes. The commonly seen practice is that teachers with 20-odd years of service get promoted to the post of assistant education officers (AEO), without verifying their interest or identifying their capabilities. We will also recommend a potential solution to the selection of AEOs in our recommendation, said an SCERT official. More in-service training sessions will be recommended for teachers to enhance professionalism. The council evaluated that the Kerala Education Rules (KER) of 1959 need proper revision, beyond random amendments. There is a provision to facilitate tailoring classes in schools with over 300 girls, which is outright misogynistic, an official with the education department.