ZP not to close down govt schools

If they are once closed, its difficult to reopen them

CEO N Shantappa at the progress review meeting here on Thursday said instead of closing the schools or merging them, the elected representatives and officials should try to convince parents to send their wards to schools..

“Schools should not be closed. Even their merger would lead to their closure eventually. It will be difficult to reopen the schools once closed or merged with another,” he said.

ZP President, vice-president, chairmans of various standing committees, members, deputy director of the Public Instruction Department, block education officers should visit the villages where the schools are facing the threat of closure and create awareness among the parents on the need of retaining the schools.

Supporting him was B Munivenkatappa, the chairman of the ZP Standing Committee (Social Justice). He said the quality of education in private schools is also not up to the standard and hence, there is no profit in closing the government schools.

He said the parents should be convinced that English, a major attraction in private schools, would be taught effectively in government schools too.

Jayaramareddy said 50 schools in Kannada have opted to teach in English medium after obtaining permission to teach in Kannada.

But, the Education department took action against them. Munivenkatappa said such schools should approach the court, challenging the Education department’s move.

Conducive environment

“ A conducive environment for learning should be created in government schools and involving local residents in the activities of the schools is crucial,” he told the officials.

Deputy co-ordinator of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Jayaramareddy said that some villages in which schools are merged with the neighbouring ones, don’t have children eligible for admission.

He said the schools which would be closed or merged, could be reopened even after three years if the number of students increases.

Shantappa didn’t agree with him and said it would be better to prevent closure of schools than hoping to reopen them after three years.

Akshara Dasoha district officer K S Nagaraja Gowda wondered why the number of students in government schools came down even after introducing several schemes such as free uniform, food and textbooks, to woo the children to schools.

He said even if they add one student to 2,500 schools each, number of students will be up by 2,500 and over 250 lecturers would get jobs.  

Principal suspended

Principal of the Government PU Composite College at Somayajalapalli in Srinivaspur taluk was suspended for alleged misappropriation of funds released for purchase of desks.

Disappointment

Zilla Panchayat president Manjula expressed disappointment over the members and officials being regularly absent for the meetings.

“If the members don’t attend the meetings, how can they be serious about development of the district?” she said.

“It is not enough if they are sent notice,” CEO Shantappa said, directing her to initiate strict action against the absentees.