Kerala Government Revises Academic Calendar: Longer School Days and More Working Saturdays
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has finalized the education calendar for the new academic year, introducing changes that will increase working hours and days for schools across the state.
According to the new calendar, government and aided high schools will see their daily working time extended by half an hour. This will be achieved by adding 15 minutes each in the morning and evening, making the new school day from 9:45 AM to 4:15 PM.
Furthermore, high schools will have classes on seven Saturdays to ensure that there are no more than six consecutive working days. This will bring the total number of working days for high schools to 205. For Upper Primary (UP) classes, two additional Saturdays will be included, leading to a total of 200 working days, also ensuring no more than six continuous working days. Lower Primary (LP) classes will have 198 working days, excluding public holidays and regular Saturdays.
V Sivan Kutty, The Education Minister explained the rationale behind these changes: “The education rules mandate 800 hours of class annually for LP classes, which these working days will suffice. However, for high schools, where 1200 hours of study time are prescribed, the daily half-hour increase along with the 7 additional working days becomes necessary.”
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) supervisory committee, chaired by Minister V. Sivankutty.