School Pravesanolsavam State level Inauguration :Inaugurating the State-level school reopening festival and free distribution of textbooks at Malampuzha Government Vocational Higher Secondary School here on Monday, the Chief Minister said The Government wanted to ensure reservation and merit in the admission to the professional courses. The government was duty-bound to ensure higher education to the poor and economically weaker sections. The government wanted to follow an educational policy that ensured social justice, merit and quality education. But the court had interfered in the law-making process which prevented the government from implementing some of its provisions. He said the policy being followed in the admission to higher secondary schools was drafted with this aim. An appeal by two managements against the centralised admission policy (single-window system) for higher secondary school was not considered by the court. Under a new policy, scholarships of Rs.5,000 each to 10,000 higher secondary students were given.

Chief Minister Sri V.S. Achuthanandan, who inaugurated the function, welcomed the students of Class I by offering them sweets. Free text books were also presented.The Education Department had made elaborate arrangements for the State-level school reopening festival and free distribution of books.

Health cards to all school students in the State

Presiding over the State-level inauguration of the school reopening festival at Malampuzha, near here, on Monday, the Minister said he had already held discussions with Health Minister Smt.P.K. Sreemathy and sought the cooperation of the Health Department in issuing health cards to students. He said that early detection of diseases would help prevent serious ailment.Sri . Baby said the government had implemented steps to reduce the weight of text books carried each day by the students. Big books were printed in two parts so that the total weight of the book got reduced by half. Free distribution of text books to school students cost the government Rs.62 crore.The Minister said there was no basis to the criticism that the high pass percentage in the recent SSLC examination was owing to gifting away of marks. The growth rate in the result proved that the result was based on the good performance of the students. For example, in 2006, the SSLC examination result was 68 per cent. In 2007, it rose to 82 per cent – a 14 per cent increase – and in 2008 it stood at 92 per cent, registering only 10 per cent increase.The Minister announced that pre-school classes would be started at Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Malampuzha, the venue of the inauguration.