Panel to gauge education standard in Urdu schools

Committee to include ex-VCs, educationists and experts

The State government will set up a technical committee to gauge the quality of education in Urdu-medium government schools.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri told reporters on Thursday that the committee will be set up in a week’s time to assess schools, the quality of education, and identify whether there is a need to introduce Kannada or English in classes from 6th standard up.

He said that the committee would include former vice-chancellors, educationists and experts in the field, and added that a report on the findings will be submitted to the government in the next three months. The committee has also been asked to assess the drop-out rates in these schools.

Kageri revealed that he had received several complaints from members of the Muslim community and others about discrepancies in these schools, which had resulted in students lagging behind, unable to catch up with students of other communities.
The minister added that students were finding it difficult to switch to mainstream education, pursue professional courses and find jobs — as a consequence of having studied only in Urdu from 1st to 10th standard.

“Introducing a different language in 6th standard may bring in a positive change,” he said and added that there are 2,350 Urdu-medium lower primary schools, 2,350 higher primary schools, and 500 high schools in the State.

Library Day

An October 1 order by the department mandates all schools in the State, including private aided and unaided, to push students to devote half an hour on November 7 for reading.

The campaign titled, ‘Thegiyiri Pusthaka Horage — Hacchiri Jnanada Deevige (‘Take out your books and enrich yourselves’), will require all students to make use of their local library and spend half an hour reading a book of their choice. Kageri explained that Rs 50 crore had been made available to purchase books, but most schools had failed to make use of the grants to create libraries or purchase books.

To set an example, Kageri will himself be seen reading a book in one of the schools. He is also planning to invite Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to participate in the campaign.