Covid-19: Declare 2020-21 zero academic year for students up to Class 7, MLC Basavaraj Horatti tells Karnataka govt

MLC Basavaraj Horatti on Saturday urged the Karnataka government to not open classes for students up to Class 7 during this academic year to ensure the safety of students in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and declare 2020-2021 zero academic year.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Horatti said classes must be conducted batch-wise for students from Class 8th to 10. Besides, students of pre-university and first-grade colleges are not kids and their immunity power would be high. So, colleges could be opened, he suggested.

More than 250 teachers have tested positive for Covid-19 and around 70 teachers have died. "Is there a government in the state?" he questioned.

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Referring to the Vidyagama scheme, he said the government is of the view that around 47 lakh students have benefitted from it. But in reality, not even 5% of students attended classes.

Horatti said that food items that should have been distributed to students were rotting in godowns and the government's apathy was responsible for this. He urged the government to initiate action against the officials concerned.

On the New Education Policy, he said the Centre must collect opinions from the states before implementing it. Except for the point that education must be given in mother tongue, the remaining factors are in favour of the BJP and not the education sector, he said.