Absence of minister affecting General Education Dept functioning: CPI(M) leader Sivankutty

Thiruvananthapuram | CPI(M) leader V Sivankutty on Thursday said that lack of a cabinet, even after 10 days of declaration of the Kerala assembly poll results, has created a crisis in the general education department and affected its smooth functioning due to the lack of a minister to oversee it.

Sivankutty, the former General Education Minister of State, highlighted the lack of a minister to oversee the department in a Facebook post.

He said that now was the time when proper ministerial interventions were required in every activity of the department, especially regarding the declaration of the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) results.

However, the absence of the minister has hindered the decision making process as lakhs of students and parents wait for the announcement of the results, he said.

Similarly, the activities to ensure the fitness of schools, as the academic year is about to begin, are also in disorder, he claimed in his post.

Sivankutty also said that ministerial level constant monitoring and coordination was also necessary to complete the printing and distribution of textbooks on time, but the absence of any interventions in this regard will have major consequences in the coming days.

"The situation is no different in the case of teacher training as the central government has stopped the funds for Samagra Shiksha, Kerala (SSK) for years," he said.

The CPI(M) leader said that earlier interventions were carried at the ministerial level, by providing special funds from the state government, to ensure teacher training, salaries and other benefits of SSK employees were uninterrupted.

The lack of administrative leadership has now brought this to a standstill, he alleged.

Sivankutty further claimed that the Department of General Education used to function in the past through proper preparations and systematic activities, but with no one to lead it even after the counting of votes will be a major setback for the education sector.

He contended that urgent interventions were required to make the department's activities more efficient.