Thiruvananthapuram: Despite strong opposition from teachers' unions, government and aided schools with classes up to 10 in the state have increased the number of working days to 220 this academic year. This decision follows the intervention of the High Court. The Department of Public Education has released the new academic calendar accordingly.

Last year, there were 204 working days. Working days in Higher Secondary and Vocational Higher Secondary schools, which have longer working hours, will remain at 195. According to the new calendar, 25 Saturdays will be working days for Classes 1 to 10, with 16 of these Saturdays falling in weeks with six consecutive working days. As per the Kerala Education Rules, an academic year requires 220 working days. The Director of Public Education may grant a relaxation of up to 20 days in special circumstances. However, until the year before last, there were only 195 working days in each class. Last year, the number of working days was increased to 204 on the directive of Education Minister V Sivankutty. This time, the Minister suggested 210 days, but the Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) Monitoring Committee recommended that 204 days would be sufficient.

However, CK Shaji, the manager of Ebenezer School in Muvattupuzha, and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) approached the High Court against the reduction of stipulated academic days, stating that it would affect the quality of education. In accordance with the High Court's directive, the government held consultations with the petitioners, but no favourable decision was reached. The government's action comes as the High Court is set to consider a contempt of court petition filed against this.

The Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association (KPSTA), the teachers’ union affiliated with the Congress party, has announced it will approach the court against the government's action. The All-Kerala School Teachers’ Union (AKSTU), a pro-CPI teachers’ organization, responded that the final decision should be taken after holding discussions with the teachers’ organizations and that they would not accept the machinations of the officials. The Kerala School Teachers’ Association (KSTA), the pro-CPM union, raised objections at a meeting called by the Education Minister against the government’s decision.