Kerala to reduce Class 10 syllabus by 25 per cent, says Education Minister Sivankutty
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday said that the syllabus in Class 10 textbooks will be reduced by 25 per cent from the next academic year.
The minister was addressing students after handing over the keys of a house constructed for the family of Mithun, a student who died after being electrocuted at Thevalakkara Boys High School here last year.
Sivankutty said students frequently complain about the heavy academic workload, and considering this, the state government decided to take necessary steps.
"In next year’s school textbooks, 25 per cent of the syllabus will be reduced from what exists in the current books. The curriculum committee has already approved the decision," he said.
He clarified that the textbooks' content would not be altered.
Mithun had died after accidentally coming into contact with an electric line near the school premises.
The key-handover ceremony for the newly constructed house was jointly carried out by Sivankutty and Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal.
Earlier in the day, Sivankutty wrote on Facebook that Mithun had dreamed of a good house for his family and had even drawn the dream home on the walls of their small dwelling.
"Today, that dream stands fulfilled with the completion of a new house named ‘Mithun Bhavanam’, though the absence of the child continues to cause deep sorrow," the minister said.
He praised the Kerala State Bharat Scouts and Guides for taking the initiative to fulfil Mithun’s wish.
Without collecting any money from students, the organisation constructed a 1,000-square-foot house within six months at a cost of Rs 20 lakh, he said, calling it a model and humane intervention, he said.
"The house stands as a tribute to the boy’s memories and a reminder of our collective responsibility towards children and their dreams," Sivankutty added.
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Sunetra Pawar elected as NCP's legislature party leader
Mumbai (PTI): Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar was unanimously elected as the leader of the NCP legislature party in Maharashtra on Saturday, three days after the death of her husband and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
She is set to take oath as the first woman Deputy Chief Minister of the state later in the day.
Sunetra Pawar's name as the NCP's legislature party leader was proposed by senior leader Dilip Walse Patil and seconded by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
She was elected during a meeting of the party's legislature wing, held at the office of late Ajit Pawar on the ground floor of the Vidhan Bhavan complex in south Mumbai.
Ajit Pawar, who was deputy chief minister and finance minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government, was killed in a plane crash in Baramati along with four others on January 28.
Sunetra Pawar paid floral tributes to a portrait of her late husband in the meeting hall. Their younger son Jay was also present.
Many ministers and legislators were teary-eyed when they entered the Vidhan Bhavan complex.
The Lok Bhavan has confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony of Sunetra Pawar as the state deputy CM will be held at 5 pm in Mumbai.
Until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra Pawar had kept a low profile. In the Lok Sabha elections that year, she contested from Baramati as the candidate of her husband's party, but was defeated by her sister-in-law and incumbent NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule in the prestige battle.
Sunetra Pawar was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.
