Children's rights will never be denied: Education minister

Thiruvananthapuram: General education minister V Sivankutty on Wednesday said that children's right to education, peace and protection wouldn't be denied under any circumstances.

Speaking after inaugurating the newly constructed laboratory block at Alamcode Govt Vocational Higher Secondary School in Attingal constituency, Sivankutty emphasised that protection of children's rights remained govt's top priority. The lab building was constructed at a cost of Rs 1.3 crore with funding from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board .

Sivankutty said govt had spent Rs 5,000 crore on the construction and renovation of school buildings and set up 43,000 smart classrooms across the state. "Kerala continues to be a model for the country in the field of school education and learning standards," he said.

He recalled that one of his first actions as minister was inclusion of Malayalam alphabets in textbooks from Classes 1 to 10. "Textbooks for children must be updated every year," he added, pointing out that 3.8 crore textbooks were printed for Classes 1 to 10 this academic year.

Govt will put an end to commercialisation in education sector, he said.