Kannada Development Authority (KDA), a statutory body of the State government, on Tuesday demanded that the government implement its recommendations on strengthening of public schools.
S.G. Siddaramaiah, KDA Chairman, told mediapersons that a seven-member committee headed by him had made 21 recommendations in September including making it mandatory for people’s representatives and government employees to admit their children to State-run or aided schools. “The Chief Minister promised to take up the issue in the Cabinet. But, he has not kept his word", he regretted.
KDA was appealing the Chief Minister to discuss the issue at a Cabinet meeting and take a final call on the recommendations before the commencement of the winter session of legislature scheduled to be held in Belagavi, he said.
Terming the study conducted by KDA as a “scientific report on improving primary and secondary education in the country after the Kothari Education Commission report of 1966,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the complete report has been translated in English and sent to all other States and the Union government to protect government schools, which were being closed down because of crass privatisation. Implementation of the recommendations would help in strengthening government schools, besides protecting native language and culture,” he observed.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who headed the Kannada Kavalu Samithi, has great concern for government schools and issues related to Kannada. But, bureaucrats are misguiding him in the endeavour,” he alleged.
Citing delay in formulating guidelines for the Kannada Language Learning Act notified in 2015 for the apathy of the officials in implementing orders related to Kannada, the KDA Chairman said that the guidelines were formed after consistent efforts of KDA and taking up the issue at the Chief Minister's level.
Underlining the urgent need to implement the recommendations on strengthening government schools, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that this was on the most effective ways to bring government schools on par with the private schools in the present day education system.
Community education convention
In a move to bring community pressure on the government to implement its recommendations on strengthening government schools, KDA is organising the first state-level Community Education Convention on October 30 and 31 in Bengaluru with the support of Centre for Child and the Law, National Law School of India University and Karnataka State Primary School Teachers’ Association.
Over 500 delegates from all 225 taluks will participate in the convention and discuss issues including situational analysis of education in Karnataka, implementation of RTE, privatisation of schools, education and its problems and solutions and common school system for equality and social justice.
“A memorandum signed by all the delegates, educationists, jurists and elected representative will be handed over to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is participating in the valedictory function, with an intention of bringing pressure on him to implement the recommendations of the committee,” said S.G. Siddaramaih.
