No pvt school next to govt school, says Edu minister

From the next academic year, the government will not sanction private schools near the government schools, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said on Monday.

The issue came up during a question by a student during the ‘Samvedana’ phone-in programme. The student caller explained to the minister how the government school where he is studying is suffering due to lack of enrollment as many parents prefer to admit their wards to nearby private schools.

Acknowledging the problem, the minister said: “Though there is a rule restricting permission to private schools near to government schools, there are violations. But from next academic year I will ensure this will not happen,” Suresh Kumar assured. This was the second phone-in conducted by the Education minister to address the issues relating to students, teachers and other stakeholders. Monday’s phone-in focussed mainly on addressing students’ problems. However, the number of calls from students were far less compered to teachers and parents.

Class 7 public exam

Many students asked the minister to clarify on the proposal to reintroduce public examination for Class 7. Some students welcomed the move whereas others expressed concerns over the sudden change.

Abhishek, a student asked, “I have no objection with public exam, but my fear is what if you introduce detention at that level.”

The minister said, “We have discussed all these concerns of students. The final decision on conducting public examination at Class 7 level will be taken within a week,” he said.

SSLC question paper

Some students who called the minister, expressed their fear about the changed SSLC question paper pattern.

Kumar told director of Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board to issue a detailed communication to students through officers at local level. This year, department revised the pattern by introducing more descriptive questions.