School syllabus in the state will be revised next year to cleanse it of ‘saffronisation’ it underwent during the BJP regime, primary and secondary education minister Kimmane Ratnakar said on Wednesday.

“I have directed the education department officers to revise the syllabus of primary education. From next year, I take the responsibility for syllabus and other matters concerning to education department. We will remove parts that are included as part of saffronisation. We will retain the inclusions that are genuine,” he told reporters.

The minister said the Congress government would not close down any school. “I want education enthusiasts to give their opinions on the issue of closing down schools with low enrolment of students. The dilemma over closing down schools remains the ground reality as there are schools which have good infrastructure and teachers but no students,” Ratnakar said.

Over the last decade, said the minister, enrolment in government schools in rural areas had reduced drastically. Of the 67 lakh new admissions, nearly 50 lakh are in towns and cities, he stated. Ratnakar lamented that the education department, with a budget of Rs15,000 crore, had scarce funds for infrastructure, adding that the government was planning to rope in corporate donors for school infrastructure.

The minister said Rs5,000 crore was needed to build infrastructure in government schools (Rs3,000 crore for class I to X, and Rs1,500 crore for Classes XI and XII) alone.