The government is considering a proposal to extend the 180-day maternity leave facility to female teachers at unaided schools, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, Kimmane Ratnakar, told the Legislative Council here on Tuesday.

He made the announcement in reply to a call attention motion moved by Basavaraj Horatti of the JD(S) during the zero hour. According to the minister, the government would decide on considering aided school teachers’ previous service with other managements for their promotions and increments, extending the service of teachers who retire in the middle of the year to the end of the academic year and extending stagnation increment to the staff of aided schools once approval came from the Finance Department.

“I will speak to the chief minister about these matters, and suitable decisions would be taken after weighing the financial burden. Government schools have done better than aided schools in SSLC and PUC examinations,” the minister added.

Horatti lamented that the said proposals had been pending with the Finance Department for the last two years. “Close down aided colleges if their performance is poor,” he demanded.
S V Sankanur of the BJP and V S Ugrappa of the Congress also urged the government to stop discrimination among employees of government schools and aided institutions with respect to facilities.