Tablet computers for government school children and to those getting home-schooled, transport service in government schools and free higher education for merit students.
These are some of the promises actor-turned-politician Upendra has made in a manifesto for the education sector - Super Education as it is called - that was released on Thursday. This is the third part of the Karnataka Pragnavantha Janatha Party's (KPJP) election manifesto, with the first two dealing with governance and rural development.
Besides notebooks, government schoolchildren from Class 3 will get electronic tablets as part of a smart class initiative. Home-schooling children will also get tablets free of cost to "help parents teach children from 1-10 standards easily." In all, tablets worth Rs 2,600 crore will be provided to 52 lakh students.
Children will be assessed once in six months on capabilities such as grasping, reasoning, creativity, analysis, application and so on.
As an alternative to the conventional pre-university (PU), Upendra has proposed offering pre-professional courses (PPC) after SSLC. These courses will be offered through the industry to train students for the job market.
Plus-two education of 15% of students who excel in SSLC with merit, 15% who excel in CET and opt for engineering courses, 30% who opt for medical education and 20% opting for other degrees courses will be completely sponsored by the government, the manifesto states.
Promotion and increment of teachers will be based on anonymous rating points by students and parents. Also, new rules will be put in place to "control private schools and colleges charging exorbitant fees."
These promises are based on the 2017-18 state budget outlay of Rs 22,662 crore, the manifesto states.