Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

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Box 6.1: Aborted Attempts of Reform in the Education Sector
It is ironically unfortunate for Kerala that all political initiatives at reforming the education sector have been
nipped in the bud by organised resistance from the private management, first in 1945 and then in 1950.
The Kerala Education Bill, 1957, introduced by the first Communist ministry, marked a milestone in the history
of development of education in Kerala. The Bill sought to balance public expenditure commitments with social
justice in the field of education, and the major provisions included were:
1. the Government may regulate the primary and other stages of education in Government and private
schools;
2. the Government shall pay the salary of all teachers and non-teaching staff in aided schools, directly or
through the headmasters of the schools;
3. all fees collected be deposited with the Government;
4. the Government may pay maintenance grant to the manager at prescribed rates;
5. the Government may make grants-in-aid for the purchase, improvement and repairs of any land , building,
or equivalent of an aided school;
6. the Public Service Commission shall select candidates for appointment as teachers in Government and
aided schools (Section 11);
7. the conditions of service relating to scales of pay applicable to teachers of Government schools shall apply
to all teachers of aided schools;
8. no teacher of an aided school shall be removed or reduced in rank or suspended by the manager without
the previous sanction of the officer authorised by the Government in this behalf;
9. the Government may take over or acquire the management of private school on reasons of mismanagement,
or in public interest, on payment of rent or compensation;
10. the Government may appoint local education authorities who will (i) assess the educational needs of the
local area, prepare schemes for educational development and submit them to Government, (ii) supervise
the implementation of the scheme of noon-day feeding of school children, and (iii) promote conferences,
exhibitions and other matters calculated to create among the people an interest in education;
11. the Government shall provide for free and compulsory education of children throughout the State within a
period of 10 years from the commencement of the Act;
12. in every area of compulsion, the guardian of every child shall cause such child to attend a school and once
a child has been so caused, the child shall be compelled to complete the full course of primary education
or the child shall be compelled to attend school till s/he reaches the age of 14;
13. in case of failure, the parent of the child shall be punished;
14. it shall be the duty of the Government to see that noon-day meals, clothing, books and writing materials are
provided for pupils free of cost.
The Bill also had the same fate of a thorough revision as its predecessor scheme; Section 11 regarding the
appointment of teachers in aided schools had later on to be amended to read: “teachers of aided schools shall
be appointed by the managers of such schools from such persons who possess the qualifications prescribed…”
(The Kerala Education (Amendment) Act, Act 8 of 1960, Kerala Gazette dated July 8, 1960). Section 12 regarding
the conditions of service of aided school teachers was also partially amended to empower the manager to suspend
teachers for a continuous period not exceeding 15 days (Act 35 of 1960). Thus, the freedom of the private
management in recruitment involving highly alleged nepotism and ‘donation’ was left intact, and still continues,
braving all reform initiatives. And it is this situation that adds to the fiscal inefficiency in the education sector.