Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Single-window scheme will help students: Baby

M.A. Baby

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Education Minister M.A. Baby has said the single-window scheme for admissions to higher secondary classes is intended to protect the interests of students and not to deny them their rights.

In an open letter to Inter Church Council chairman Archbishop Joseph Powathil, released here on Tuesday, the Minister said the admission scheme was in line with the LDF government’s commitment to ensure social justice and equal opportunity in the education sector without in any way curtailing the rights of private managements.

The scheme, tried out on an experimental basis in Thiruvananthapuram district last year, had proved to be a major success and there were no complaints about intervention by the State government in admissions to management/community seats.

Mr. Baby said there was no merit in the allegation that there was delay in commencement of classes as classes had begun in Thiruvananthapuram district on July 29, just six days after commencement of classes in all the other districts last year.

The proposal this year is to start classes by the third week of June, he added.

The Education Minister said there was considerable savings in money for the students as earlier they had to buy applications paying Rs.10 from each school. Under the single-window scheme, the students need apply only in one application form. The admission process was also transparent and priorities were being decided purely on merit using information technology tools. The students were also free from stress as information about the schools where they could admission and the courses that were available were all being made available in advance to them.

Mr. Baby, who wrote the letter in response to a communication from Archbishop Powathil, hoped that the Inter Church Council would cooperate with the government’s efforts to make higher secondary admissions smooth and transparent.

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