Panel for opening schools at 8am

Thiruvananthapuram: M A Khader Committee appointed by the state government in 2017 to recommend structural and academic changes in the general education has submitted its second report on Thursday.
The report submitted to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan recommended, among other things, a change in the timing of schools. The report is said to have recommended the government to unify the timing of schools. Learning is best effective from 8am to 1pm and afternoons can be used for extracurricular activities, it said.
The committee has also recommended the government to revamp teacher-training courses. It asked the government to replace all the different existing courses with a five-year training course.
However, the feasibility of the five-year course has already been questioned by many in the education sector. What is proposed by the committee, they said, may not be in sync with the national outlook on teacher's training. It would also render obsolete the TTC and B. Ed courses.
There would be wider discussions on the recommendations of the committee and the government would accept or reject the recommendations only after seeking response from all major stakeholders.