Empowerment of govt schools is our priority: Karnataka Minister Madhu Bangarappa

Bengaluru, Feb 28 (IANS) Karnataka's Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Madhu Bangarappa, has said that strengthening government schools and responding to teachers’ issues in the interest of the state’s children is a key objective of the government. 

He was speaking on Saturday after participating in the 55th Golden Jubilee celebrations and state-level educational mega conference of the Karnataka State Primary School Teachers’ Association.

In the past two years, the recruitment process of around 14,499 teachers has been successfully completed. Emphasis has also been placed on teacher-friendly administration by resolving transfer issues faced by teachers, especially in the North Karnataka region, Minister Madhu Bangarappa stated.

For the first time in history, parent-teacher meetings were conducted simultaneously in 46,000 government schools across the state, increasing community participation in school development, he noted.

Schemes to provide eggs, milk, shoes, socks, and nutritious food to children have been intensified. The minister called upon teachers to work towards increasing enrolment in government schools by 20 per cent this year, the Minister said.

A system of conducting three examinations annually has been implemented to eliminate exam fear among children. He said this is a model initiative for the entire country, he said.

On the same stage, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was conferred the title ‘Shikshana Ramayya’, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar was honoured with the title ‘Sangha Mitra’, and Legislative Council Member Puttanna was conferred the title ‘Shikshaka Sainika’.

During the programme, the minister was honoured with the title ‘Gurukula’ in recognition of his contributions to the education sector.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, addressing the gathering, stated, "We have formulated a policy to start CSR schools to ensure quality education is available in villages. It has been decided to utilise Rs 8,000– Rs 10,000 crore in CSR funds for the infrastructure development of government schools in rural areas. Children should not be forced to migrate from villages to towns in search of education.”

“Well-performing private schools have been instructed to adopt these government schools and appoint teachers. Through this initiative, 90,000 teaching posts are to be filled. This will be implemented in the coming days,” he said.

“We have immense trust in teachers and are sincerely taking decisions to resolve several issues. We have noted that more than 1 lakh teaching posts are vacant. Recently, we took a major decision concerning the future of youth and approved recruitment for 56,000 posts out of 2.50 lakh positions. We discussed the pros and cons of these decisions in the Cabinet meeting for nearly five hours,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar said, “Your role should not be limited to teaching history; you must prepare children to create history. You are not just nurturing the children who come to school, but you are shaping society itself. The happiness you experience when the students you taught achieve great heights cannot be matched by any other moment.”

Writer Dr Baraguru Ramachandrappa, Legislative Council Member Ramoji Gowda, AIPTF National President Basavaraj Gurikar, and State Teachers’ Association President Chandrashekhar Nuggali, along with thousands of teachers, participated in the programme.