Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s decision to join the Centre’s PM SHRI (Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India) scheme has triggered criticism from within the Left and allied circles, who see it as a compromise on the state’s long-held opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The agreement, signed recently by the Public Education Secretary, brings over 300 state-run schools under partial central control. These institutions will be rebranded as PM SHRI schools and will feature the Prime Minister’s photograph and logo as part of the scheme’s mandate.
For years, Kerala stood apart from other states by rejecting the NEP, calling it an RSS-backed policy that threatened India’s federal and secular education framework. A committee led by economist Prof. Prabhat Patnaik was formed to frame an alternative education policy rooted in Kerala’s egalitarian model. The CPM had positioned this as a political statement of resistance against Hindutva ideology.
However, critics now accuse the Left government of reversing its stance for financial relief. The Centre had withheld allocations under schemes like Samagra Shiksha Kerala, leaving the state with pending dues of about Rs 1,200 crore. The PM SHRI scheme could bring around Rs 300 crore annually until 2027, offering much-needed funds but at what critics say is an ideological cost.
Observers fear that Kerala’s participation will gradually open the door to NEP’s saffronised curriculum, eroding the state’s distinctive education ethos built through decades of reform and social struggle.
