Kerala to scrap traditional classroom backbenches in state schools
Press Trust of India | August 5, 2025 | 01:08 PM IST | 1 min read
Sivankutty said the backbencher concept can affect a student’s confidence and learning, and emphasised that no child should be left behind in education or life.
NEW DELHI: Backbenchers in Kerala’s state-run schools will soon be a thing of the past, as the southern state moves to abolish conventional row-wise seating, citing its adverse effects on students. General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Tuesday that the government would like to do away with the concept of 'backbenchers' from the school classrooms.
Announcing the major decision through a Facebook post, he said the general education department has decided to appoint an expert panel to find out the best seating pattern suitable for our education system. "It has been decided to appoint a committee of experts to find out the best model suitable for our education system. Let us consider the suggestions of this panel and move forward," the minister posted. Stating that the concept of backbenchers can have a negative impact on a student's confidence and learning, Sivankutty said no child should be left behind in their studies or in life.
Also read UP Board Exams 2026: Registration of private candidates begins on upmsp.edu.in
‘Backbencher’ concept under review in Kerala schools
"Our goal is to ensure equal opportunities for all children. We are thinking about how to make this happen," he explained. Many countries are following different models to eliminate the concept of backbenchers, the minister said, and sought the support of everyone in ensuring a better future for the children. The elimination of the backbenchers' concept has been a topic of discussion in Kerala for some time, based on an idea shared by a recently released Malayalam film "Sthanarthi Sreekuttan".
In the Vinesh Viswanathan-directed movie, one of the characters, a school student, proposes a change in the conventional seating pattern after suffering humiliation for being a backbencher in the class. Drawing inspiration from the movie, some of the schools in the southern state have already implemented a U-shaped seating pattern, ensuring every student gets equal attention and prominence.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Next Story
]Odisha government to develop 835 model primary schools at Rs 7 crore each: CM Majhi
Schools with over 100 students, more than 2 acres of land, and classes from nursery to Class 8 will be developed as Godavarish Mishra Model Primary Schools. One model school will be set up in each panchayat.
Press Trust of India | 1 min readFeatured News
]- ‘Last democratic step’: Why 200 OUAT Bhubaneswar research scholars are on hunger strike
- MBBS Abroad: Indian students in Bangladesh medical colleges safe, but fresh violence keeps them on edge
- Post-Al Falah, Haryana expands control, can shut private universities over national security concerns
- Study in India falls short on visa issues, curricula; NITI Aayog sets 5 lakh foreign students target for 2047
- JEE Advanced reports show IITs cut hundreds of BTech seats in core engineering; here’s what happened
- Exam déjà vu? AMU law faculty reuses last year’s BA LLB Hons question paper; students oppose retest
- Pre, Post-Matric Scholarships for minorities disbursed to thousands of ineligible or fake beneficiaries: CAG
- PMKVY: CAG flags missing names from Skill India scheme, 34 lakh losing payout due to poor NSDC oversight
- ‘IIM Ahmedabad Dubai is the brand ambassador of Indian education system in UAE’: Dean of new campus
- TISS Mumbai: More students seek help for relationship woes than studies; women prefer text, show helpline data