Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 25 : Kerala's General Education and Labour Minister V. Sivankutty on Tuesday strongly opposed the practice of assigning students, including NSS and NCC volunteers, to election-related duties that could interfere with their academic schedule.

The minister warned that such measures would disrupt learning, especially at a time when schools in Kerala are functioning at full capacity and crucial examinations, including public exams, are approaching.

Responding to reports that some revenue officials had sought to engage student volunteers in tasks related to the revision of electoral rolls, data collection, and digitisation, Sivankutty made it clear that keeping students away from classrooms for more than 10 days for such non-academic purposes would be unacceptable and would directly affect their right to education.

Citing provisions of the Right to Education Act, he emphasised that children's instructional hours must be protected.

While acknowledging that the NSS and the NCC are encouraged for extracurricular development and social service, he asserted that it was inappropriate to assign students office or field work during academic hours, particularly when these duties do not support their educational growth.

"Using children for official responsibilities unrelated to education constitutes a violation of their right to learning. Strict instructions have been issued to officials of the Education Department to ensure that no action disrupts classroom learning or prevents students from preparing for upcoming examinations," he added.

The Minister also highlighted that the state has already deployed staff from within the education sector to meet election-related needs.

As part of the ongoing intensive verification of electoral rolls, a total of 5,623 personnel from the Education Department are currently working as Booth Level Officers.

This includes 2,938 teachers, 2,104 non-teaching staff, and 581 other employees.

Sivankutty clarified that while the department supports national assignments through institutional participation, it will not permit any move that compromises studentsâ?? academic interests.

/IANS