On the question of why Kerala joined PM SHRI, general education minister V Sivankutty on Friday cast aside ideological caution and bluntly stated that Kerala had to change with the times, virtually conceding that, like World Bank funds the party had once opposed and then embraced, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 would be beneficial for the people of Kerala.

"Tell me what's the problem with NEP," he asked at one point during his press conference in Thiruvananthapuram. Interestingly, CPM state secretary M V Govindan, his doctrinal rigour intact, had just minutes ago said that the party harboured strong reservations about PM SHRI.

"We are still ideologically opposed to PM SHRI. We are against this big brother attitude of the Centre that upends the federal system and imposes conditions on central schemes. But the Centre is depriving us of money. We need to find a way out," Govindan told reporters, reasoning why the government had to opt for PM SHRI.

CPI's temporary truce
Before dropping his guard on Friday, Sivankutty too had tried to present the enrolment in PM SHRI as a balance between securing much-needed funds from the Centre and smartly avoiding the offensive aspects of the NEP. He even called it a "tactical move". 

The minister, while he was still in his ideological groove, had put on a brave face and claimed that the government would not implement the NEP, even though he could not convincingly say how.

This Sivankutty claim seemed to offer some breather for the CPI. It allowed CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam to abort, or at least postpone, a revolt that seemed almost imminent after the CPM swatted aside the CPI's objections and joined PM SHRI without even informing them. "I heard what the minister said. It is a positive step. We have taken it in good faith," the CPI secretary said.

Viswam said the CPI's future course of action on the PM SHRI issue would be taken at the party's State Executive that will held in Alappuzha on October 27.

Blow hot and cold
However, when he sat down to explain his party's stand to the media on Friday, Binoy Viswam ranted and raved about the CPM's arrogance ("Why is a CPI minister's concerns ignored in the cabinet?", "What happened to collective responsibility", "This is not how LDF functions"), painted PM SHRI in ominous tones ("It is a right-wing agenda to influence young minds") and was deeply distrustful of the general Education Department's move to sign the MoU ("There was unusual haste", "The move, which kept the other LDF constituents in the dark, had a conspiratorial nature").

But eventually, the CPI state secretary apparently took solace in Sivankutty's assurance that Kerala would not implement NEP. "I have faith in my minister," Viswam said. If at all the CPI plans to take any decisive step, it will be known only on October 27.

CPI's ideological woes
However, before he had reposed full faith in the minister, Viswam had articulated serious ideological and existential concerns.

"If PM SHRI is a project to showcase the NEP, what does it mean in the long run," he said. "Anyone who holds democratic and secular values dear should be worried. The RSS is attempting to influence pedagogy. It is trying to infiltrate its ideology into Kerala's curriculum. Our government should be aware of this," he said.

He even seemed to issue what sounded like an ultimatum. "The signing of the MoU was a violation of coalition ethics. This is not the way decisions should be taken in the LDF. The LDF should mend its ways," Viswam said. 

Viswam also said that there was something wrong with Kerala signing PM SHRI if the BJP and the ABVP were the first to applaud the move. The Union Ministry of Education had put out a tweet congratulating Kerala for "signing the MoU for the implementation of the PM SHRI initiative across the state." 

"This marks a major milestone in transforming school education in Kerala, developing schools as centres of excellence with modern infrastructure, smart classrooms, experiential learning, and a strong focus on skill development in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020," the tweet said.

Why Sivankutty is fine with NEP?
Before he blurted out that the NEP is the need of the hour, the general education minister said that it was just a technical argument that Kerala had accepted NEP 2020. "The Higher Education Department had secured central funds under PM-USHA (Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan). This too is based on the NEP. But it is Kerala's policy that is being implemented in the Higher Education sector," Sivankutty said.

The minister should realise that PM SHRI is different from PM-USHA in that it insists on states signing an MoU. Sivankutty was told by reporters that the first condition in the MoU was that signatory states should implement NEP in its entirety. There was no such condition for PM-USHA.

Sivankutty's argument was that the state's curriculum was designed by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT Kerala). He said that when the centre revised the national school syllabus by omitting Mahatma Gandhi's death and the entire portion on Mughals, Kerala's revised syllabus retained all of this.

Fact is, the government, aided and unaided schools in Kerala that will be branded as PM SHRI schools will have textbooks prepared at the national level according to NEP guidelines. 

Sivankutty but pointed out clause 4.32 of the NEP to establish that states would have a say in preparing the curriculum. This clause allows states to prepare their own textbooks by incorporating "State flavour and material". But even here, it is said that the "NCERT curriculum would be taken as the nationally acceptable criterion".

The Director of General Education, Umesh N S K, argued that the NEP was flexible. He said the policy wanted states to follow books prepared by the NCERT only to the "extent possible".

Tactical retreat
Sivankutty also termed the decision to sign on PM SHRI as a "tactical" move.

"This was a way to extract from the Centre funds the state is entitled to. The Centre has already withheld Rs 1158.13 crore Kerala was supposed to receive under the Sarva Shiksha Scheme," the minister said. 

After joining PM SHRI, Sivankutty said Kerala would receive ₹1476.13 crore.