Panchayats to have Plus Two courses: Baby

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All the panchayats in Kerala would have Plus Two courses by next year, Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs M.A. Baby told the Assembly on Thursday.

Replying to a submission by M.V. Shreyamskumar (Socialist Janata-Democratic-SJD), the Education Minister said the State had around 230 panchayats that did not have any institution running Plus Two courses.

The government was taking steps to sanction the courses to half of them this year.

The remaining panchayats would be covered in the next stage so that all panchayats would have Plus Two classes by next year, he added.

The government, he said, had already taken steps to raise Plus Two seats by 10 to 20 per cent in all the higher secondary schools in the State.

On the SJD members plea for more Plus Two seats in Wayanad, Mr. Baby said that while the demand was quite justified, there was also the reality of majority of the 980 Kerala Government Certificate Course in Engineering (KGCE) seats remaining vacant in the district.

Only about 350 students had joined for these courses, which were equivalent to the ITI courses, he pointed out.