Rs 200 crore for academic development

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The much-awaited, demotion of classes VIII and V to upper primary and lower primary respectively would take place this year, Finance Minister K M Mani said in the budget. This is in line with the Right to Education Act passed by the Centre and followed by the states, he said.   Modernisation of schools into international standards occupy the foremost importance in school education. The Minister has allotted Rs 200 crore for academic development which includes sports, IT and skill development in children. Every classroom would be transformed into smart classes.   Even while his colleague in the Ministry, Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb is making plans to revamp VHSE sector, Mani has been considerate enough and granted Rs 10 crore to the sector. Higher Secondary also got Rs 66 crore. Un-aided special schools would be brought under the aided sector.   The only new item introduced in school education was the introduction of an aptitude test for students after class X, to test their interest in higher education and skill. This has been allotted Rs 25 lakh.Higher EducationAcademic city, Knowledge city and Technical University here and IIT Palakad are some of the projects that were allocated funds in the higher education sector. The Global Education Meet that would provide exposure to Kerala Universities would be held next year.   ‘A state award fund for Universities’ would be launched, for which Rs 20 crore has been earmarked. This is in line with the UGC’s scheme ‘Universities with Potential for Excellence’ to improve the academic capability of the varsities.   Ten colleges in the state would be upgraded as ‘centres of excellence’. To encourage the talents of graduates, ‘walk with scholar’ project would be launched for which Rs 50 lakh has been allotted. An amount of Rs 1 crore has been earmarked for Integrated Institute of Science and Technology in Malappuram. A Science City would be opened in Kottayam for which Rs 50 lakh has been allotted and the Malayalam University has been sanctioned Rs 50 lakh.