Consistent with the National Education Policy of 1986, Government decided to delink Pre-degree Courses from colleges in a phased manner and to introduce 10+2 system in the High Schools of Kerala. Accordingly, Kerala Higher Secondary Department was formed in 1990 and the course was introduced in 31 selected Government high schools in the State to reorganize secondary and collegiate education. The two-year course was named as Higher Secondary (Plus Two) Course.

The process of de-linking Pre-degree courses from colleges was completed by the academic year 2000-2001. A total of 1907 Higher Secondary Schools are functioning in the State; 760 in government sector, 686 in aided sector and 461 in unaided sector. The system is offering Science, Humanities and Commerce stream courses to 6.5 lakhs students  . There are more than 20,000 teachers in government and aided sectors.

Vision
The main objective of the department is to impart best quality higher education to the eligible students of the State who complete their SSLC/equivalent level education. In order to achieve this objective, the department conducts courses in Science, Humanities and Commerce streams in the Higher Secondary Schools and imparts timely training to teachers.