In the wake dwindling number of students in Government schools and their closure, a seven-member committee headed by Karnataka Development Authority (KDA) has recommended the Siddaramaiah government to issue an order making it mandatory for government employees and elected representatives to get their children admitted to government and aided schools.
To counter admission rush in private pre-nursery schools, the panel recommended opening LKG and UKC classes in Government primary and higher primary schools. To ensure cent per cent attendance of teachers in schools and improve quality of teaching, the report recommended freeing teaches from all kinds of non-teaching work such as census work, electoral work.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who released the report on Strengthening of Government Schools prepared by KDA Chairman Siddaramaiah, which has suggested 21 recommendations on Monday, said many leaders, legislators and ministers who speak volumes about promotion of quality of education in government schools send their children to private schools. Many poor people come to him seeking recommendations for admission of their wards to reputed private schools in cities, the Chief Minister said.
With a large number of vacancies in the government schools, the KDA chairman said teachers should be recruited for all subjects to encourage high pass percentage in schools. Filling of vacancies would also increase teacher-student ratio, he said.
As a part of the ICT programme, the panel said E-Libraries and E-books facilities to be provided in government schools so that students would equip with e-skills on par with students in private schools.
The KDA recommended holding back funds to private schools under the RTE Act and suggested that the same be used for betterment of infrastructure in government schools.
The Chief Minister summoned Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanvir Sait, who was briefing presspersons at another event in the City, and instructed him to look into the demands of the KDA and its recommendations and bring it before the Cabinet.
Though the committee was set up last year, it took more than a year to come up with recommendations. The Chief Minister said “You (KDA) submitted the report in the last year of the government. This is election year.... but we will look into it. We will not neglect Kannada. A large number of teachers’ vacancies existed owing to non-filling of posts by the previous BJP Government,” he said.
