JOIN USState govt moots model schools
An action plan has been submitted to the Centre. The State Government has asked the Centre to allocate Rs 1,100 crore as grant soon for setting up these schools.
These schools will function under the State Government, following a different curriculum and pedagogy.
“We have already identified the land and the work will first start in the districts of North Karnataka, including Gulbarga, Bellary, Yadgir, Koppal, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gadag and Dharwar,” Dr R G Nadadur, Principal Secretary in the Education Department, told Deccan Herald.
Nadadur was here to attend a conference of the state education secretaries.
Action plan
The Karnataka Government will soon form an expert committee to decide the methodology of teaching and course contents to be followed in these schools, to be set up as part of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Yojana (RMSY).
Around Rs 46 lakh will be spent on each school and the project is likely to be operational within a year and a half.
“However, it all depends on how soon the Centre gives the money. We have already made a budget provision of Rs 25 crore for the RMSY and as soon as we get the green signal from the Human Resource Development Ministry, we can start our work,” he said.
He said the medium of instruction in these schools will be Kannada and English. The syllabus will have the best of contents from the national syllabus and may even include some new subjects.
There will be more emphasis on activities and hands-on learning. Emphasis will be on settting up quality laboratories.
State-Centre effort
In the first phase of the RMSY, the Centre is supposed to share 80 per cent of the financial burden and the states will manage the remaining amount.
The Karnataka Government will also seek Central help to set up girls’ hostels along with model schools to promote education among girls from backward communities.
Dr Nadadur said there is no shortage of qualified teachers in the State. New topics like team-building, management and leadership skills will be introduced in the curriculum for teachers’ training, which is being undertaken even at the cluster level.
He also referred to “Nali kali,” the activity-based teaching methodology for Classes I and II, which has been introduced in the State.
“Techniques like using beads to teach counting are not taught in regular teacher training institutes. For implementing such new programmes, we are also organising fresh training courses,” Nadadur added.