Kota Srinivas Poojary, Minister for Ports and Muzrai, said on Wednesday that the Muzrai Department was planning to handover schools under it to the Department of Public Instruction.
He was speaking at a Teachers’ Day function organised by the district-level Teachers’ Day celebrations committee, and G. Shankar Family Trust here.
Mr. Poojary said that he had spoken to Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on the issue. Mr. Kageri had informed him that the Department of Public Instruction was ready to take these schools. The State government was giving importance to the education sector and had allocated Rs. 15,071 crore to it for 2012-13, which was among the highest in the country. The government wanted all children to have access to education and was doing everything to provide it. It was providing free textbooks, uniforms, mid-day meals and even bicycles to students so that they did not suffer from lack of facilities. The government was appointing teachers strictly on the basis of merit so that the quality of education imparted did not suffer. “In spite of all these efforts, the fact remains that attendance of students in government schools is going down. This is a matter of concern,” he said.
Teachers played an important role in the development of the country as they moulded the character of students, Mr. Poojary said.
Delivering the keynote address, poet K.S. Nisar Ahmed said teachers had the important responsibility of uniting the minds and hearts of students. This was essential in present strife-torn times. The Indian philosophy was based on the concept of “live and let live”. People should live in harmony in society. “Teachers should give right guidance to students,” he said.
Students might learn English for the sake of their livelihood. But they should give importance to Kannada as this was the language of the State. They should also respect their mother-tongue. “But Kannada is the supreme language of Karnataka. Other languages can play a supporting role,” Mr. Ahmed said.
Twenty teachers from government and unaided primary and high schools received the district-level “Best Teacher Award”.
Raghupati Bhat and Lalaji Mendon, MLAs, president of the zilla panchayat K. Shankar Poojary, president of the Udupi Taluk Panchayat Devadas Hebbar, Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat Prabhakar Sharma, Deputy Director of Public Instruction Nagendra Madhyastha, and businessman G. Shankar were present.
