Kerela: After three years of opposition, the Kerala government has decided to implement the central ‘PM SHRI’ scheme under the National Education Policy 2020. The move follows the state government’s recent decision of raising the minimum admission age for Class 1 to six years.
The Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme was launched on September 7, 2022. The scheme envisions imparting high-quality education to students and providing them with 21st-century skills, making them ‘future-ready’.
The scheme aims to create over 14,500 ‘exemplar’ schools nationwide. A sum of Rs 27,000 crore for five years funded by both the Centre and states will demonstrate the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020.
As per the scheme plan, all the government schools comprising both the centre and state-run schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs) would be upgraded into ‘model’ schools, throughout the country.
This scheme was opposed by Kerala along with other states namely Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, and Punjab who expressed their concerns and objections about the plan to the central government.
Following this, the centre adopted a firm stance and asserted that the fund allotment for states would be stopped if not accepted. This led many states to sign the memorandum (MoU) with the Union Education Ministry.
After the implementation of the scheme in Kerala, around 336 schools in the state would receive annual aid of Rs 85 lakh to 1 crore over five years. As per the official information, with a 60:40 funding ratio, 60 per cent would be paid by the centre while the remaining 40 per cent by the state.
