Big bonanza for education dept, students: Madhu Bangarappa

Karnataka's Primary and Secondary Education Minister made a slew of announcements for the benefit of the Education department and students.

Mysuru: Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa made a slew of announcements, for the benefit of the Education department and students.

Addressing a media conference, in Mysuru, on Tuesday, the minister said, there was a vacancy of 53,000 teachers in schools and PU colleges across Karnataka and 20,000 teachers were hired on contract, but that was not sufficient.

“Recently 12,500 teachers have been recruited. They have reported to work. Besides, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been urged for an allocation to recruit 20,000 more teachers,” he said.

Public exams

“The concept of three public exams, per academic year, has been a success for PUC. Thus, it will be extended to SSLC, from this academic year. Over 1.2 lakh PUC students of last academic year appeared for the third public exam and 42,000 of them passed. So, this many students could continue their higher education, without wasting a year. There will be no mention of ‘Supplementary Exam’ in the marks card of those appearing for the second or third public exam. So, even those who aspire to improve their results can appear for them,” Madhu said.

“Provision of eggs will be extended to students of up to 10 standard and it will be increased to two eggs per week, soon. Besides, ragi malt will be added to the milk, thrice a week, provided to students under Ksheerabhagya scheme,” he said.

Weight reduction

The minister said, the textbooks will be divided into two parts, to reduce the weight of school-bags. Besides, note sheets will be introduced, instead of notebooks, he added.

He said, in a couple of years, the present strength of 300 Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) will be increased to 3,000. “There are 6,000 Grama Panchayats in Karnataka and there should be a KPS for GPs each. This year, an additional 500 schools will be upgraded to KPS, with the help of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds. All KPS will have music and arts teachers,” Madhu said.

Free power, water

“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will soon announce that government schools need not pay either power or water bill, with effect from November 1. This will help a lot of schools, to use computers and hold special classes for needy students,” he said.

The minister said, a budget allocation is sought, to start coaching centres in government schools, for entrance exams like CET and NEET, at select centres, to help students from economically backward families. “Similarly, funds are sought, to end the problem of maintaining cleanliness, especially of toilets, in schools,” he added.

SEP vs NEP

Madhu said, the State Education Policy (SEP), an alternative to National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020, would be finalised in three months.

Injustice under SSA

The minister said that the Union government is doing injustice to Karnataka, as it has limited the allocation per student to Rs 2,400, under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), while it is over Rs 5,500 to other states. “I have written a letter to the Union Education Minister, seeking justice for our students,” he added.