Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Fisheries Minister Saji Cheriyan on Thursday reiterated that there are some students in the state who are unable to read and write properly despite having cleared the SSLC exam. Cheriyan had last week sparked a controversy by saying that many students who pass the SSLC examinations lack the skills to write or read properly.

He stuck to this stand on Thursday in the assembly when the issue was raised by opposition UDF MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly who asked whether the General Education Department concurs with the Fisheries Minister’s view. State General Education Minister V Sivankutty attempted to brush aside the matter by saying that Cheriyan made the statement in the flow of his speech.

Sivankutty also said that the government does not endorse the view that those who have cleared the SSLC (class 10) exams do not know how to read and write properly. Cheriyan, however, said that a class 10 student had visited his house to make a request and the same was full of spelling mistakes. “That is why I said in my speech that there are children who do not know how to read and write properly. But that does not mean it is a huge problem in Kerala. There is no need to project it like that. It is a democracy, we can discuss it. I am not against that,” he said.

Cheriyan had made the controversial remark at a programme in the coastal Alappuzha district on Saturday. He had also said that earlier it was tough to secure the minimum pass mark of 210 but now everybody was clearing the examination. A pass percentage of 99.69 per cent was registered in the Class 10 Secondary School Leaving Certificate examinations in Kerala for the academic year 2023-24 when the results were announced last month. A total of 4,25,563 students cleared the examination for an overall pass percentage of 99.69 per cent, according to government officials.