Don't reimburse pvt schools for RTE admissions: KDA

The Kannada Development Authority (KDA) submitted its final report on strengthening government schools and improving quality education to the chief minister on Monday.

According to the report, as many as 1,782 government schools have been shut during the period from 2010 to 2017. In the same period, 3,186 new private schools were opened.

The report says that even seven years after the Right to Education Act came into effect, the condition of government schools has not seen improvement. Schools have been closed due to poor enrollment. Further, many have been merged with neighbouring schools. On the other hand, number of private schools is on the rise, the report said.

The number of dilapidated school buildings has increased in the said period from 63,415 to 73,129. Facilities such as toilets, drinking water, library and playgrounds exist only on paper but not in reality.

The committee has made 21 recommendations for improving education in the state. Schools which have been closed should be reopened. Space allotted to schools should not be given to private players or other government departments. Vacant posts of teachers should be filled and necessary infrastructure created.

The committee recommended that the practice of compensating private schools for admitting children under the RTE quota should be stopped.

“In the year 2016-17, Rs 930 crore was spent for reimbursing private schools. In a few years, this number will multiply. Instead, it should be the social responsibility of the private schools to provide free education,” the report said. It suggested that Karnataka follow the example of Tamil Nadu in this matter.

Chairman of KDA, S G Siddaramaiah stressed that if the quality of education has to improve, elected representatives and government servants should compulsorily send their children to government schools.

“Since there are no government pre-primary classes, the number of students enrolling directly to class I is decreasing. Parents take admission in private schools which have kindergarten. Government should take immediate steps to start kindergarten in its schools,” he said.

After receiving the report, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: “No report related to Kannada is ever neglected by the government. The committee has given many good suggestions to improve quality of education. We will take them seriously and try to implement them in a phased manner.”