Thiruvananthapuram, June 1 (IANS) The Kerala government Tuesday said it would act against schools that do not offer Malayalam as a subject even as the state takes pride in a high literacy of 90.92 percent and a low school dropout rate of 0.83 percent.

"The government is considering taking action against all schools that do not offer Malayalam as a subject," said Education Minister M.A. Baby, kickstarting the new academic year at a school in the city's suburbs.

According to the official figures, there are 12,649 schools in Kerala, of which 4,501 are government schools, 7,284 are aided schools and 864 are unaided schools.

In the last academic year, a total of 44.58 lakh students were enrolled and this time also, a similar number of students is expected. Close to 400,000 tiny tots attended their first day in school Tuesday.

"Already sports has become part of the curriculum here and steps are being taken to teach all students kalari (a martial art of Kerala) and also swimming. Already kalari teachers have completed a course," said Baby.

Baby also asked student organisations to desist from organising strikes by disrupting classes. "Losing a day when one should study should not happen. We expect that this academic year, there should be 200 working days," said Baby.

The state's literacy rate continues to be high at 90.92 percent and it has added another feather in its cap by recording the lowest dropout rate of school students in the country. According to latest published figures, Kerala's dropout rate is 0.83 percent.

Despite the academic year starting in Kerala Tuesday, some schools, especially in the private sector, decided to open only Wednesday. "Tuesday, generally, is not considered a good day for beginning anything new and hence we have decided to have the reopening Wednesday," said a principal in Kozhikode.