Thiruvananthapuram- Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Sunday that the National Educational Policy (NEP) clearly states that the authority to bring out school textbooks rests with the states and so there is no need for any concern in this regard.

Amidst a raging row over the state's recent signing of the PM SHRI scheme, the minister continued to justify the General Education Department's move and said many things in NEP have already been implemented by Kerala.

“In the signed MoU, it is clearly stated that we can withdraw from the agreement any moment. It should be done after deliberations by the two parties and arriving at a consensus. If we cannot arrive at a consensus, we have the freedom to approach the court as well,” he told reporters here.

Stating that Kerala would not backtrack from the long-drawn educational policy of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) at any cost, he said BJP leader K Surendran's statement that school textbooks in the state would teach about RSS leaders would remain as his dream.

“The authority to bring out school textbooks rests with the states and so there is no need for any concern in this regard,” he said.

Sivankutty also said that it was a matter that affects 47 lakh students in the state and the only priority of the government was not to lose the central funds for students belonging to poor and marginalised communities.

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