The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will organise protests in front of district collectorates in north Kerala districts on June 8 against the alleged injustice towards the Malabar region in the education sector, especially in connection with the allocation of Plus One seats.
The decision was taken after a meeting of the State secretariat members, MPs, MLAs, and district functionaries of the party here on Thursday.
IUML State general secretary P.M.A. Salam told mediapersons that thousands of students who cleared the SSLC exams with good grades were finding it difficult to get admission to courses of their choice. “As many as 50,000 students in Malabar could be denied a chance for higher studies. Of them, around 29,000 are in Malappuram, 9,800 are in Palakkad, 7,000 in Kozhikode, 5,500 in Kannur and 4,300 in Kasaragod,” he said.
Mr. Salam alleged that the government was yet to make the V. Karthikeyan Nair Committee report on reorganisation of Plus Two batches public. He said the committee was learnt to have proposed an increase in the number of seats and batches to solve the crisis. “Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said that we need to take into view some social conditions before implementing the proposals. We are left wondering what are they. There is some mystery behind the government not making the report public,” he said.
The IUML leader also criticised the government decision to marginally increase seats in higher secondary schools to solve the problem. He alleged that around 70 students were forced to sit in congested rooms. “The IUML is demanding that the government increase the number of batches in Malabar schools and improve the infrastructure there,” he added.
Mr. Salam also accused the government of embarking on the coastal highway work without releasing a detailed project report and not conducting environment and social impact studies.
