Karnataka education department looks to revive 'Vidyagama'

The Karnataka government is likely to resume the 'Vidyagama' programme with some fine-tuning. Under the revitalised programme, teachers will meet students in small batches, instead of resuming offline classes in a full-fledged manner.

Highly-placed sources in the Department of Primary and Secondary Education said they have arrived at two options and decide on one after receiving the report from a task force to be constituted to look into the possibility of reopening of offline classes.

"At the department level, we are preparing ourselves with two options. Conducting classes on the lines of ‘Vidyagama’ is one of them," an official source said.

"We are bringing in some changes to the ‘Vidyagama’ programme and planning to implement in a more effective and safer way," the official mentioned.

The department’s Plan B is the result of uncertainty over getting approval for resuming offline classes from the Health Department. “We are not sure if we will get clearance from the Health Department to resume classes in a full-fledged manner. Even if they permit, that will definitely be for upper grades. Considering all these aspects, we are planning to start ‘Vidyagama’ for primary level,” explained the official.

Meanwhile, the department has decided to vaccinate all teachers before going ahead with offline or ‘Vidyagama’ classes. “One of the main reasons for withdrawal of ‘Vidyagama’ programme last year was the reports of students and teachers contracting Covid-19 virus. This time, we do not want to give room for any such incidents this year," the official added.

‘Vidyagama’ has also become a necessity considering the lack of accessibility of gadgets to students. As per the recent survey conducted by the Department of State Educational Research and Training, 61% of students have access to one or the other gadget and 39% have no access to any gadget.