Parents of govt. school students get words of comfort from SDMC members

DDPI had ordered closure of English-medium classes from LKG to Class 5 in 19 govt. schools

Karnataka : Mangaluru : 29/05/2017 Good number of parents came with their children on Monday to the Government Higher Primary School in Kasba Bengre to discuss with teachers the fallout of cancellation of the English medium classes of LKG, UKG and Class one. This school was among 19 government schools in the district where the Government closed down English medium classes following objection by the Kannada Development Authority. Photos by Raghava M

More than the sentiment of getting her son educated in her former school, Yasmeen admitted Shreyan to LKG in the Government Higher Primary School in Kasba Bengre last year because of its English medium of instruction.

Ms. Yasmeen is among several parents who came to the school on Monday to discuss the prospects of their children after the Deputy Director of Public Instruction Walter D’Mello ordered closure of English-medium classes from LKG to Class 5 in 19 government schools in the district from the current academic year.

The school in Kasba Bengre is among those schools.

“It is really sad to see the government denying us the facility of English medium education (provided by the School Development and Monitoring Committee),” said Ms. Yasmeen. But she wanted her son to continue UKG in the same school. “More than me, my son is attached to teachers here. I am confident of the ability of teachers here to train children in English,” she said. Zeenath, also an alumnus of the same school, pulled her son out from a nearby private school and admitted him to the Class 1 in same government school last year.

Like last year, she paid ₹2,700 early this year to the School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC) for two pairs of uniform, books and bag. She is now perplexed over closure of the classes. The worry is not only among the parents of 300 children, who had an year of English medium education in the same school, but also among parents of 200 children who enrolled to the LKG and UKG classes this year. On the first day of the new academic year on Monday, the SDMC members and teachers at the school were comforting the worried parents with a promise to train students in communication English till Class 5 and preparing them for English medium education that starts from Class 6 which is allowed by the government.

The school has called a meeting of parents on Thursday morning in which teachers will inform about training primary school students in communicative English and having Kannada as a medium of instruction.

“We will try to convince parents. If they do not agree there are free to withdraw their children from our school,” says SDMC president Khairunnissa.