Pre-primary classes planned in 101 govt schools across state

The department of primary and secondary education is contemplating on starting pre-primary classes in 101 government schools in an attempt to draw more children to enrol there.

Speaking after a review meeting of the education department on Monday, principal secretary to the department Shalini Rajaneesh said this was being done on a pilot basis. Of the 101 schools that have been granted permission to start the classes, 10 are in Bengaluru.

The department is looking at the option in an attempt to understand if starting LKG and UKG classes will help improve the student strength in government schools.

“We want to see if there will be evidence of improvement in strength in government schools after this measure,” she said. Some government schools have already started the pre-primary classes.

Shalini said these schools are housed in 13 educational districts across the state. “The decision was taken after several school development and monitoring committees and teachers' associations' put forth a proposal to start pre-primary classes. This, they believe, will increase the number of admissions,” she said.

To begin with, these schools will be given one teacher each and the syllabus for the pre-primary classes has been designed by the Department of State Educational Research and Training. The department is exploring options to work in association with the women and child welfare department to draw students from anganwadis.