Kasaragod: Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Minority Affairs George Kurian on Thursday warned that Kerala’s move to review its participation in the PM SHRI scheme could deliver a mammoth blow to the state's general education system. Kurian dialled up the rhetoric, claiming that a withdrawal would push students to schools in other states and signal an attempt to weaken government schools in Kerala. "If Kerala withdraws from the PM SHRI scheme, there will be a situation where students will start moving to schools in other states,” he told reporters in Kasaragod on Thursday.

PM SHRI, or Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India, is a centrally sponsored programme launched in September 2022 to develop 14,500 schools across India as exemplar institutions to showcase the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The Left parties, particularly the CPM, which leads the Kerala government, have opposed parts of the NEP and resisted PM SHRI, since signing up requires implementing the NEP in full.

Despite that stance, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government quietly signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union government to implement the scheme in Kerala. The CPI, a junior partner in the coalition, publicly protested and threatened to skip Cabinet meetings unless the decision was reversed. The revolt forced the government into retreat.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the state will review the implementation of the PM SHRI scheme. A seven-member Cabinet sub-committee led by Education Minister V Sivankutty, and including CPI’s K Rajan and P Prasad, Roshy Augustine of the Kerala Congress (M), P Rajeev of the CPM, A K Saseendran of the NCP, and K Krishnankutty of the Janata Dal (Secular), will study the matter and submit a report. Until then, all PM SHRI-related activities have been paused and the decision will be informed to the Union government.

Kurian claimed the BJP-led Union government allotted ₹1,071 crore to Kerala in 2022-23 for government school development. "That support helped turn many government schools into smart schools," he said. The minister welcomed the state government's decision to implement NEP in the higher education sector and hoped that the government would not withdraw from the PM SHRI agreement for schools. "Withdrawing from the PM SHRI scheme will hinder the growth of government schools and negatively affect students and teachers," he said.

Kerala had been one of the three states that vehemently opposed PM SHRI, along with Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The other two states continue to oppose it, despite the Union government linking the release of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to states signing up for PM SHRI. West Bengal has also objected to rebranding schools under the scheme as PM SHRI schools.

So far, 13,070 schools have been selected nationwide, including 1,533 Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, as PM SHRI schools. The total cost of the five-year programme is ₹27,360 crore, of which the Centre funds ₹18,128 crore or 60% for states. If Kerala goes ahead with the MoU, it will receive central funding for only about one and a half more years and must contribute 40% of the cost thereafter.

While the Left argues the NEP would take away Kerala’s say in school education, the policy itself says schools can still follow the state syllabus. So even if Kerala fully implements the NEP under PM SHRI, it does not lose the right to decide what students here study.