Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
Credit: DH File Photo
The Karnataka government on Tuesday extended Dasara holidays for government and aided schools in view of the ongoing Social and Educational Survey.
"The government has decided that schools will have holidays till October 18," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced.
Teachers on midterm exams duty will not be assigned the survey work.
"Coverage in Bengaluru is low at just 36 per cent. So, these holidays will apply commonly. There are 6,700 teachers engaged in survey work in Bengaluru. There are 46 lakh households in the city. Per day, we had fixed 10-15 homes as the target. We want to finish the survey in Bengaluru before Deepavali," Siddaramaiah said.
The survey was scheduled to end on Tuesday, and schools were set to reopen on Wednesday. The government on Tuesday issued a memo altering school timings from October 8 to 24 to allow teachers to complete the survey. The State-wide survey, being conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, began on September 22.
The Chief Minister, who held a videoconference with officials on the progress of the survey, said the work had not been completed in some districts. While in Koppal, the coverage is 97%, in Dakshina Kannada, it is 67%. The Education Department and the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes discussed the issue, he said.
Siddaramaiah said that Legislative Council member Puttanna and the teachers' association had requested an additional 10 days. "We have accepted this request and declared a holiday for government and aided schools till October 18," he said.
Teachers would complete the syllabus by conducting special classes, he said.
As many as 1,60,000 people, including 1,20,000 teachers, are involved in the survey.
He said that since the second pre-university (PU) intermediate examination would be conducted from October 12, PU lecturers had been exempted from the survey work.
Compensation
As many as three teachers died during the survey. Their families would be given Rs 20 lakh compensation each, the Chief Minister said.
He warned that government would take disciplinary action against those who do not agree to participate in the survey and those who hesitate.