Congratulating the Kerala government over the signing of the MoU, the Ministry of Education said this marks a “major milestone in transforming school education in Kerala, developing schools as centres of excellence with modern infrastructure, smart classrooms, experiential learning, and a strong focus on skill development in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.”
PM SHRI: What is it?
Launched in September 2022, PM SHRI is a centrally sponsored initiative aimed at developing over 14,500 schools to showcase “all components of the National Education Policy 2020.”
It has a total outlay of ₹27,360 crore, including ₹18,128 crore as central share, for five years from 2022–23 to 2026–27. Through this scheme, the government looks forward to “nurture students in a way that they become engaged, productive, and contributing citizens for building an equitable, inclusive, and plural society,” as per the official website.
While 33 States/Union Territories have already signed the MoU with the Ministry of Education, the number has now increased to 34 after the joining of Kerala. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal now remain the only two states that are yet to ink the MoU, as per The Hindu.
Why Kerala joined PM SHRI?
According to NDTV, a major reason behind the change in stance for the Kerala government was financial coercion.
The BJP-led central government earlier withheld around ₹456 crore in the Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2025-26, since the state was not a part of the PM SHRI scheme.
Additionally, arrears from previous years were also pending. These included ₹513.54 crore for 2024-25 and ₹188.6 crore for 2023-24. Altogether, it brought the total to ₹1,158 crore.
Due to this, about 40 lakh students in Kerala, who hailed from marginalised sections and were enrolled in government and aided schools, were directly impacted, as per the Kerala government.
Many of the essential services, including uniforms and textbooks, were disrupted.
Defending the decision, Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty called it a strategic move to secure central funds.
He claimed that the decision was taken to counter the central government’s effort to “withhold thousands of crores in funds meant for children.”
“This government will not allow any measure that undermines public education or deprives children of their rightful funds. Our children will not lose a single rupee they are entitled to,” PTI quoted the state minister as saying.
He said that the Kerala Curriculum Framework (KCF) 2023 remains untouched, adding that the curriculum will continue to focus on secularism, scientific temper, and constitutional values.
LDF coalition remains divided
On Monday, Pinarayi Vijayan met CPI secretary Binoy Viswam to talk about the matter, but failed to resolve the dispute over the PM SHRI schools scheme.
“The issue we raised has not been resolved. We held talks with the Chief Minister, and it was very cordial. But no solution was found to the issues. So our concern remains. The next step will be informed later,” PTI quoted Viswam as saying.
On Monday, Kerala Students’ Union members marched towards the Education Minister’s office to protest against the state government’s decision.
Congress MP Jebi Mather told ANI that Vijayan has taken a “big U-turn” that “contradicts the CPI-M and LDF’s ideology.”
“The CPI has opposed this decision… The CPI claims it was kept in the dark about the agreement. People accuse the Chief Minister of attempting to deceive the CPI with promises to delay the process, suggesting it aligns with an RSS agenda to inject communal thinking in the system,” she added.
Congress MP KC Venugopal said there is a “bigger conspiracy” behind taking this decision.
