Southern States - Karnataka   

More Central funds sought for education

By Our Staff Correspondent

TUMKUR DEC. 8. G. Parameshwar, Minister for Higher Education, B.K. Chandrashekar, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, and Baragur Ramachandrappa, Chairman, Kannada Development Authority, have listed the Government's predilections and priorities to reform education.

Their participation at the valediction of the "Shaikshanik Sadhan Samavesh" (convention of educational accomplishments) today enhanced the level of discussions on various topics.

Making out a strong case for at least a five-fold increase in Central allocation for education, Dr. Parameshwar said the Union Government allocated six to seven per cent of the national income for education, while other countries spent 25 per cent of their revenue. The State Government would send a proposal to the Centre to enhance the allocation by at least five times, so that all the basic problems faced by teachers could be solved.

Prof. Chandrashekar said 94 per cent of the funds provided by the Government was utilised to meet the salaries of teachers. Severe funds crunch had been experienced by States. In Andhra Pradesh, teachers had not been paid salaries for last 3 months, he added.

Dr. Parameshwar said that besides achieving the main objective of providing education to every child, the Government was striving to impart quality education.

Many revolutionary measures had been initiated to reorient the policy of education for the benefit of the poor, dalits, and minorities.

Prof. Chandrashekar said the Government would set up CET coaching centres in villages from the next academic year. Experts would give three months' coaching, and conduct trial and mock tests to enable rural children to be familiar with the pattern of the test. The objective was to provide them level playing ground to compete with the city-bred children, he added.

He said the Government was determined to end economic inequalities. The recommendations of the Dr. D.M. Nanjundappa Committee on regional imbalances would be implemented. Educational facilities in North Karnataka would be improved. Seven districts in the north-east had been made a special zone, and additional funds provided to experiment several new methods of teaching there. Bridge courses were organised for rural children who were found to be lagging behind in English, Mathematics, and Science. A decision had been taken to delete 30 lessons in textbooks, in which the contents remotely supported communalism.

Prof. Chandrashekar said institutions run by SC and ST managements would be brought under grant-in-aid. However, their individual merits would be considered, he added.

Dr. Parameshwar said that in 1972, the then Chief Minister, D. Devaraj Urs, on the advice of the Home Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, extended grant-in-aid facility to all institutions run by SC and ST managements. The S.M. Krishna Government was repeating the policy.

This time, it was Prof. Chandrashekar who mooted it. Dr. Parameshwar, however, warned the managements against misusing the grants, and said a similar facility would be extended to institutions run by general category managements in due course.

Dr. Ramachandrappa said poor children were studying in 59,000 Kannada-medium schools. The Government should strengthen the schools so that they could learn English, besides pursuing studies in Kannada medium. There should be no inequality in education. He urged Dr. Parameshwar and Prof. Chandrashekar to give a new direction to education in the State in the next two years.

Setting an agenda for the teachers' organisations, Dr. Ramachandrappa said they should, besides fighting for the fulfilment of their service demands, devote time to the total development of the field. "Keep a safe distance from the Government.

Evolve your own action plans for comprehensive academic improvement, and match them with those of the Government. Be a part of the reformation of education,'' he told them. Although he favoured extension of grant-in-aid to all the institutions started before 1995, Dr. Ramachandrappa wanted the grant-in-aid to be conditional. He said the Government should fix responsibility and accountability on the managements.

S. Channabasavaiah, MLC, said the educational policy lacked continuity and uniformity. It differed from State to State. Political parties, whenever they came to power, meddled with it, and the Centre remained a silent spectator.

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