Expressing anguish over 18 government schools in Dakshina Kannada starting LKG and UKG classes in English medium without the permission of the government, chairman of Kannada Development Authority S.G. Siddaramaiah said here on Friday that he will instruct the Deputy Commissioner to close them down.
Addressing presspersons after a review meeting on implementation of Kannada in administration, he said that the government had only allowed the teaching of English as a language in Kannada medium schools from class I. It has not permitted to open English medium classes in government Kannada medium schools.
Opening of LKG and UKG classes in Kannada medium schools will be an attempt to phase out Kannada medium from those schools, he said adding, that he had instructed the Deputy Commissioner to submit him a report within fortnight on how it happened and who were responsible to it. Mr. Siddaramaiah said that it has come to his notice that the BEO of a taluk in Dakshina Kannada has allowed a private person to construct a building in the premises of a government school without obtaining permission from the government or higher officers. He has kept the Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat and the Deputy Commissioner in the dark on allowing the construction.
But the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) who is aware of it has not brought it to the notice of higher officials.
The DDPI has clarified that the building has been built as a sponsored one as the existing school building was an old one.
The new building is owned by the government only and not the private party who sponsored it. The private party was not carrying out any other activities there.
He said that it would be dangerous to allow private persons to build buildings inside the premises of government schools without the permission of the government as a person in Tiptur was managing a dairy unit inside the building of a school premises.
He said that he personally felt that the government should nationalise private schools from primary level to higher education level like banks.
It is because of the commercialisation of the education sector that by private players that it is now beyond the reach of common persons.
