The two-month long summer holidays have come to an end and close to 40 lakh students in Kerala are back to their classrooms on Thursday to begin a new academic year. When the schools in the state reopened on June 6, it was also the first time in the history of the state that Classes 1 to 12 are beginning on the same day. Previously, Class 11 would only begin a little later because of the delay caused due to the allotment following their Class 10 board results.
As per tradition, a ‘Pravesanolsavam’ (school enrollment festival) will also be conducted across the state, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurating the event earlier on Thursday at the Chembuchira Government Higher Secondary School in Thrissur district, where over 600 students are reported to have taken admission to Class 1. As per media reports, over 4 lakh students have been enrolled in Class 1 across the state.
Pravesanolsavam is a festival to mark the commencement of classes as well as the announcement of various projects for the development of the education sector.
Speaking at the event after inaugurating the Pravesanolsavam, Pinarayi Vijayan emphasised the importance of teachers in a student’s life. “It is not just the knowledge through studying textbooks that we obtain during our school days but the knowledge that is spread through our teachers, and I feel that teachers play one of the most important roles during the school days of a student,” the Kerala CM said.
Initially, the Kerala Education department had decided that the schools in the state would reopen on June 3, but the state opposition leaders had sent a letter to the Education Minister requesting the reopening to be postponed to June 6 since the festival of Ramzan was falling on June 5.