Chikkamagaluru: School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa on Saturday directed officials to take the necessary steps for the overall development of government schools and pre-university colleges, increasing enrolment and providing quality education.
Chairing the education department’s progress review meeting at the Abdul Nazir Sab hall of the Chikkamagaluru Zilla Panchayat, he said strengthening government schools was the government’s priority and officials must work effectively towards it.
The meeting discussed developing government schools under the department’s ‘Namma Shale – Namma Javabdari’ initiative. The minister said efforts should be made to develop government schools with the support of alumni, and donors who contribute to upgrading schools should be identified and felicitated to inspire others.
He asked officials to pay special attention to increasing enrolment in government schools, starting pre-primary sections, providing necessary infrastructure, training teachers from time to time and bringing back children who are absent from school. Steps should also be taken to start English-medium sections where needed and to upgrade selected schools, he said.
To address the shortage of teachers, he directed that vacant posts be filled and guest teachers appointed where required. Infrastructure works, including repair of classrooms and construction of toilets, should be completed on a priority basis.
Textbooks, uniforms, shoes and socks should be distributed to all children together at the start of the school year, and officials must ensure no child is deprived of government facilities, he said. He also asked for greater priority to the development of PM SHRI schools and directed that quality food be supplied without disruption under the midday meal scheme.
The minister said more emphasis should be given to value education to build good conduct and life values among children, and the reading habit should be developed among students through the ‘Mobile Bidi, Pustaka Hidi’ (leave the mobile, pick up a book) programme. Parent-teacher meetings should be held regularly, and children lagging behind in learning should be identified and given special coaching.
He also told officials to put in place suitable training arrangements to prepare students for competitive examinations such as CET, NEET and JEE.
Chikkamagaluru MLA H.D. Thammaiah, Sringeri MLA T.D. Rajegowda, Tarikere MLA G.H. Srinivas, MLCs Gayathri Shanthegowda and S.L. Bhojegowda, district guarantee schemes implementation committee president M.C. Shivananda, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority chairman A.N. Mahesh, Zilla Panchayat CEO Meenakshi Arya, Bhadra CADA chairman K.P. Amshumanth, DDPI Thimmaraju, DDPU Manjula and education department officials were present.
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