The General Education Department is gearing up to revise SSLC examination manual, school manual, and academic master plans, after a hiatus.
The higher secondary examinations manual had been revised two months ago, after 16 years. The modified SSLC examination manual would come into effect next year, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty said at a press conference on Friday.
A school manual that would become applicable for all institutions that follow the State syllabus was also in the offing. The document would comprise a well-defined framework on the functioning of schools, their governance, objectives, as well as guidelines for parents-teachers associations (PTA), school management committees, and mother PTAs.
Academic master plans would also be revised in each school to plan long-term and short-term goals. While outlining the future activities of schools, they would be customised in accordance with the local realities and needs, Mr. Sivankutty said.
Evaluation norms revised
Facing stiff opposition from a section of teachers, the department decided to revise the number of Plus Two examination answer scripts to be evaluated at the valuation camps. With the revision of the examination manual, the number of answer scripts to be evaluated had increased from 26 to 34 answer scripts (17 each during the morning and afternoon sessions) for subjects except Botany, Zoology and Music for which the requirement went up from 40 to 50 per day.
Now, the daily target of answer scripts to be evaluated had been reduced to 30 and 44 (for Botany, Zoology and Music) respectively.
According to Mr. Sivankutty, the earlier targets had prevailed when the maximum marks stood at 150. The revisions in daily requirements was necessitated with maximum marks being reduced to 80, 60 and 30 for various subjects.
Teachers attending the valuation camps would receive a remuneration of ₹240 a day (₹8 for each of the 30 answer papers) and ₹600 per day as dearness allowance. Travelling allowance would also be paid in accordance with the prevailing norms.
He added the mid-day meal system would continue in schools next academic year as during the previous years. Nearly 30 lakh students of up to Class 8 in all government and aided schools including 12,306 special schools and multi-grade learning centres would benefit through the programme.
Awareness campaign
In view of the increasing prevalence of child suicides in the State, the government would launch a sensitisation programme to bring the suicide rate down to nil. Clinical psychologists would be roped in for the programme. Malappuram topped the number of such deaths, according to a study that had been conducted by a committee chaired by former Director General of Police (DGP) R. Sreelekha.
