Students in Kerala will no longer be required to stand in the searing sun and hear long speeches in morning assemblies.

The State government has directed schools to limit the school assembly sessions to under 15 minutes and also to conduct them in shade.

Announcing this in the State assembly on Wednesday, Education Minister M A Baby said the government had asked schools to hold the assembly inside halls or “in the shade”.

The decision came against the backdrop of the longstanding complaints against the “colonial” practice from parents and educationists.

It was in May last year that the parents of some students in a private school in Kozhikode registered a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission. They pointed out that three students, who stood in one of the morning assemblies, had fainted.

The school management ignored the incident and went ahead with the school assembly.

All for vitamin-D !
When quizzed about the incident, the school management told the State Human Rights Commission that such complaints were routinely cited by students as an excuse to avoid attending school assemblies.

According to the school management, school  assemblies helped inculcate a sense of discipline in the students and also got them focussed.

To buttress the parents  claim, the school managements also cited the recommendation of a leading naturopath that exposure to the sun enabled assimilation of Vitamin-D for the children.

However, a medical expert said that making students stand in the sun for over 15 minutes would only harm their health.

The Sate Human Right Commission led by Chairman, retired Justice, Mohankumar accepted this advice and made the necessary recommendation to the state government.

Heavy school bags
The state Education Minister M A Baby also said that the state government was planning to bring in a legislation to regulate the functioning of kindergarten schools in the State.

It may be noted that the  parents have also for long been campaigning against the back-breaking school bags that their wards carried.

The High Court had even pointed out that a primary school student was made to carry over 4 kilograms of books whereas a college going student carried hardly a kilo.

The matter is pending in the Court as it awaits a final decision from the state government.