Government schools, set to open by the end of May, have not been insulated from the aftershocks of the Assembly elections. Many students will have to wear their old uniforms as the new sets will not reach them before the academic year commences.
The reason for the delay in issuing work orders is the ongoing political drama, the absence of a stable government and also the code of conduct that preceded the State Assembly elections
Basavaraj Gurikar, president, Karnataka State Government Primary School Teachers’ Association, said the Education Department should have made this a priority and completed all required tasks before the code of conduct came into place. “Students from disadvantaged backgrounds in government schools will have to bear the brunt of the political affairs,” he said.
Sources in the Department of Public Instruction pointed out that around 19 lakh students in government schools in Mysuru and Belagavi divisions will not get the uniforms any time soon as the work order for the same has not yet been issued. “For 24 lakh students in schools in Bengaluru and Kalaburagi, uniforms are likely to reach by the end of the month,” a source in the department said.
The department will now have have to seek permission from the State Election Commission before issuing the work order next week as the code of conduct for the MLCs elections is in force, said sources.
A teacher of a primary a school in Chamarajanagar said that many of the students had outgrown the uniforms and shoes. “We will have to ask them to wear regular clothes if the uniforms do not come on time,” she said.
Delay in shoes, socks
Around 44.5 lakh students studying in government schools will also have to wait longer to get their shoes and socks as the Department of Primary and Secondary Education has yet to get its financial allocation for this from the Finance Department.
“Once we receive the money, we have to transfer it to the educational blocks after which it will be transferred to the School Development and Monitoring committee who will have to procure the shoes and socks locally. This however is unlikely to take place in the next fortnight,” an official in the department said.
