Minister criticises Kerala’s education standards, says SSLC students lack skills to read, write

“But, a significant percentage of them do not know how to read or write properly,” he said.

Expressing concern that if anyone flunked the examination, it would be portrayed as the failure of the dispensation, the minister said it was good for the government to be liberal in the evaluation for the SSLC examinations.

But, the present General Education Minister Sivankutty, who already made it clear that the practice was not right, is expected to bring reforms, Cheriyan added.

In a statement on Sunday, Sivankutty said Kerala is the state that provides pre-primary, primary, upper-primary, high school and higher secondary education in the best manner in the country.

“Kerala will not compromise on academic excellence. Kerala still ranks first in the Centre’s development indics in terms of school education,” he noted.
Sivankutty also said a controversy has now been brewing over some remarks made by Minister Cheriyan.

“If you listen to the entire speech, it is clear that he has expressed his opinion to take the public education sector to a higher level,” the Minister added.

He also listed out various initiatives being taken up by his department to better the school education system in the state.

A pass percentage of 99.69 per cent was registered in the Class 10 Secondary School Leaving Certificate examinations in Kerala for the academic year 2023-24 when the results were announced last month.

A total of 4,25,563 students cleared the examination for an overall pass percentage of 99.69 per cent, officials said.