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Kerala’s General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Wednesday, November 5, that the state has received the first instalment of funds from the Union Government under the Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) scheme after a two-year gap.
Of the Rs 109 crore approved for educational purposes, Rs 92.41 crore was sanctioned on Tuesday, November 4. “The amount received is the recurring fund entitled to children under the Right to Education Act. We are still awaiting the non-recurring funds of Rs 17 crore meant for construction,” Sivankutty told reporters.
The Minister said the total arrears due to the state amount to Rs 1,148 crore — Rs 188.58 crore for 2023–24, Rs 513.14 crore for 2024–25, and Rs 486.1 crore for 2025–26. “We are expecting to receive the money. On November 10, I will meet the Union Minister for Education to discuss the issue,” he added.
Sivankutty also referred to an ongoing case before the Supreme Court regarding the appointment of special educators for children with disabilities. He said the Union Government had assured the court that funds under the SSK scheme would soon be released to Kerala. “I expect that assurance to be fulfilled soon,” he said.
Quoting the Rehabilitation Council of India’s guidelines, Sivankutty said there should be one special educator for every ten children in classes 1 to 5, and one for every fifteen students in higher classes.
“In Kerala’s context, a group of schools will be considered as a single unit for implementing this rule,” he said, adding that over 4,000 special educators would be required to meet the standard.
He said, in Kerala of more than 4,000 special educators will be required to fulfil the recommendation. “The issue directly affects about 45 lakh children in the public education sector in the state. Even though the Union government's share is pending, the State government has been moving forward with the initiative by bearing the expenses on its own,” he said.
On the PM SHRI scheme, Sivankutty said the process of officially halting the project was underway. The letter regarding the stagnation of PM SHRI will be sent soon, he said. The state government had earlier signed up for the Union government-sponsored scheme but later decided to freeze it following opposition from its ally, the Communist Party of India (CPI).