Thiruvananthapuram: In a relief to students of flood-ravaged Kerala, the government has decided to conduct only the half-yearly examination instead of the usual Onam and Christmas examinations.
Several school days were lost due to the August deluge in the state, leaving over 400 people dead.
Education Minister C Raveendranath said the dates for the mid-year examination have not been decided yet. Date and other details will be finalised by the quality improvement programme monitoring committee.
The panel's meeting is yet to be scheduled. The Onam examination was cancelled earlier as syllabus portions could not be completed after the floods forced the closure of schools for several days. Some of the schools were turned into flood relief camps till August 29.
The minister said art, science and sports festivals will be held at minimum expenditure without any celebration. The committee will finalise the details on September 17.
School youth festival
The school youth festival, Kalolsavam, will be held without any frills and fanfare and the expenditure will be limited to the minimum. In normal circumstances, the cost for the fest is Rs 4 crore.
Alappuzha was scheduled as the venue for the art festival, but the decision will have to be reviewed considering the post-flood situation in the district.
Another venue would be considered, Raveendranath said, adding that there was no decision yet on conducting the event in Thiruvananthapuram.
Different committees on different festivals under the education department will now have a combined sitting chaired by the minister to take a final call.
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