The Kerala High Court rejected a request made by a student from the Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) to modify the curriculum of their course. The student had appealed to the court, seeking to amend the schedule to include only five working days per week, with Saturdays and Sundays designated as holidays.

The single-headed bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran mentioned that it was not within the students' purview to dictate the formulation of the course curriculum.

Further, the Court highlighted that such decisions fell under the domain of policy-making, to be determined by experts in the field.

'' When this factum remains uncontested, one fails to understand how the petitioner can seek that Saturdays be made a holiday”, stated the Court.

The petitioner has brought their case before the Court, contending that reducing the workweek to five days would enable students to pursue additional permissible courses alongside their ITI studies, thereby enhancing their prospects for better job opportunities.

The petitioner's counsel stated that the student had submitted a representation to the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala, outlining proposed modifications to the curriculum aimed at reducing the weekly working days. However, it was conveyed that the representation was ultimately rejected.

The government pleader argued before the Court that the writ petition was not maintainable because students did not have the authority to dictate the methods by which the curriculum of the course should be designed.

The Court observed that the petitioner student had provided conflicting reasons for advocating the reduction of working days. While in the writ petition, the emphasis was on creating time for pursuing additional courses to enhance job prospects, in the representation, the petitioner asserted that fewer working days would allow students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to seek employment and acquire financial resources.

The Court stated that students cannot “decide the manner of the curriculum."

Further, the Court noted that these were matters in the policy realm, and it cannot accede to the request of the student.

Accordingly, the Court closed the writ petition.

Counsel for Petitioner: Advocates Sherry J. Thomas, Ligish Xavier, Joemon Antony, Antony Nilton Remelo

Counsel for Respondents: Government Pleader Vidya Kuriakose

Case title: Arun Joseph v Union of India

Case number: WP(C) NO. 3767 OF 2024