Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said that 14 vacant Plus One batches in government schools from south Kerala districts will be shifted to Malappuram district to address the shortage of seats there.
He told the media here on Monday that it was apart from the marginal increase of seats and the 81 temporary batches being created there. All that would be done in the first allotment itself, said Mr. Sivankutty.
The Minister said additional batches would be allotted based on the situation after the first allotment. The Director of General Education had been told to submit a report on the condition in aided schools that would get temporary batches. Mr. Sivankutty said an unnecessary controversy was being generated saying Malappuram district had been sidelined in the allocation of Plus One batches.
He said there were 80,922 applicants for Plus One seats in Malappuram district. There are 55,590 seats in government and aided schools. There are 11,286 seats in the unaided sector and 2,820 in vocational higher secondary schools. If no one joins unaided schools, the district requires 22,512 seats and if there are admissions to those institutions, the shortage will be 11,226 seats. Mr. Sivankutty said the department would do everything possible to solve the crisis in the northern districts. By the next academic year, a permanent solution would be found, he added.
