School reopening: Forum calls for govt staff association chief's suspension

The parents and the private school managements’ forum have demanded that C S Shadakshari, president of the state government employees association be suspended, saying that he had written to CM Bommai, urging to postpone the commencement of the academic year for state board schools by 15 days.

This is what provoked the Karnataka State Private School, College Parents Associations Co-ordination Forum and Registered Unaided Private Schools Association (RUPSA) to demand that the government keep him under suspension.

In a statement released to the media, the forum stated: “Being a government employee, the president of the Karnataka State government Employees Association is misleading the teachers who are a part of the government services. We demand that the chief minister suspend Shadakshari because he is trying to influence the government by misusing his powers provided by the association,” said the forum.

RUPSA said, “When parents are ready to send their wards to schools, when schools are all set to re-open as per schedule, why is politics at play here?”

“Before writing, one should think of the academic gap created due to Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years. We urge the government not to heed to such requests to postpone the commencement of classes,” it said.

Earlier, chairman of the Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti and a few other members of the Council had written to Bommai, requesting to postpone the commencement of the academic year by 15 days.

The department of primary and secondary education had trimmed the summer vacation by 15 days and decided to commence classes from May 16 to recover the learning loss.

When contacted, Shadakshari told DH that he had not written any such letter.

“I have not made any communication with the government in this regard. In fact, when teachers approached me, I supported the government’s decision.”