Parents and children from deprived communities and religious minorities, who participated in a public hearing on “The impact of COVID-19 on the education crisis” on Tuesday, spoke about the “denial of education” as most of them were not able to access digital devices as classes moved online.
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Several parents from Bengaluru, Belagavi, Bagalkot, and Mysuru were moved to tears at the event, organised by Slum Mahila Sanghatane and ActionAid.
Over concerns by parents that private schools are refusing to provide transfer certificates (TC) over fees dues, Narasimaiah, Director, Primary Education Department, mentioned that there is a circular from the government stating that no schools can deny TCs to any child irrespective of the fees to be paid. The public hearing demanded that the government should send out a circular to all private schools to issue TCs, with no conditionalities, when requested by parents.
“The government should waive the fee of children studying in private schools who belong to BPL families, as they are in a severe economic distress situation,” a statement from the organisations said.
“There is a need to evolve a special programme in collaboration with the Education, Social Welfare, Minority and Backward Class Departments, to bridge the severe learning gaps that has occurred due to the closure of school for 20 long months. The government must also run a bridge course through a campaign mode to ensure quality education to children,” the statement further said.