Additional school hours: Samastha to offer practical suggestions during talks with govt.

Sunni scholars’ forum Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama and its affiliate organisations have said they will offer practical suggestions related to the additional instructional hours being implemented in State syllabus schools. This was decided at a meeting held here on Tuesday.

The Samastha had opposed the additional working hours for Classes VIII to X, 15 minutes each in the morning and afternoon on all days except Fridays, saying it would affect students who attend ‘madrasa’ classes early in the morning. Its leaders told the media on Tuesday that if there was no positive response to their suggestions during the proposed talks with Education department officials, protests would be intensified against the government.

The Samastha functionaries pointed out that there had been no response to a memorandum submitted by the organisation ahead of the implementation of the new timings. No talks were held either. The Samastha Kerala Madrasa Management Association subsequently declared that it would hold protests against the government across the State. However, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty spoke to Samastha president Syed Mohammed Jifri Muthukoya Thangal over phone on July 14 and expressed the government’s willingness to hold talks on the issue.

M.T. Abdulla Musliyar, general secretary, Samastha Islam Religious Education Board, said that practical suggestions would be put forward during the talks. “If there is no positive response, all Samastha-affiliated organisations will jointly organise intensified protests. There is no going back on this. The government should take the people into confidence while taking decisions. Religion is a form of education and vice-versa. Religious education is a crucial component of Islam, it cannot be set aside,” he said.

The new timings were implemented to realise the target of 220 working days and 1,100 instructional hours for Class VIII as per the Right to Education Act and for Classes IX and X as per the Kerala Education Rules. Samastha secretary Umar Faizy Mukkom, central ‘mushawara’ member Bahauddin Nadwi, among others, were present at the press meet.