ENGLISHVsKANNADA MEDIUM:: CM defends govt’s decision on schools / Govt set to close 1,420 erring schools

ENGLISHVsKANNADA MEDIUM

CM defends govt’s decision on schools

DH News Service Shimoga:

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep242006/state191782006923.asp

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday defended the the government’s decision to derecognise schools that have violated the language policy.

The Government will take a suitable decision, keeping in mind the future of the students, he told newspersons here.

The schools had obtained the permission to teach in Kannada medium for 1 st to 5th standards but were teaching in English. Such violations cannot be tolerated, he said. “I had a meeting of the adminsitrative board of private schools. I asked them who had come to teach a lesson in humanity to the government if they had any humanitarian considerations towards the children when they gave admissions and they all hung their heads in shame”, he explained. “The private schools have been warned since 2004 not to violate the language policy but they continued with out heeding to our caution. Because of this the government took stringent action. Education Mnister Horatti and the officials of the department have taken the appropriate step” he defended.

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They will become ‘private tutorials’

DH News Service Bangalore:

Undeterred by the government’s decision to derecognise schools which have violated the 1994 Government Order, Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association on Saturday said it…

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep242006/index213472006923.asp

Undeterred by the government’s decision to derecognise schools which have violated the 1994 Government Order, Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association on Saturday said it would advise its affiliated schools to continue to run their institutions as “private tutorials”.

The Association, however, admitted that the schools have violated the GO on the medium of instruction.

“We tried to convince the government to allow the schools to function at least till the end of the academic year, so that students are not displaced during the middle of the academic year; but our request was turned down. If the government does not reconsider its decision, we will advise the institutions to function as private tutorials,” Association president G S Sharma said.

Sharma said the institutions can impart non-formal education and nobody could stop them from doing that.

“Anyway, the government has insisted that no student should be detained till class 8.

“Moreover, there is a provision that students can join school from class 8 onwards on the basis of their age, taking an entrance test. A transfer certificate is also not required,” he claimed.

He said some parents were approaching the courts to obtain a stay on the government’s move.

Meanwhile, Associated Managements of English Medium Schools in Karnataka secretary general K S Krishna Iyer said he would advise schools to file an appeal before the appropriate appellant authority of the department — in this case the director of primary education — challenging the DDPIs’ derecognition notice.

“The managements agreed that there has been violation of the government rule.

“ Still, they could now give an undertaking that they will strictly follow the rule and seek reaffiliation this year itself,” Iyer also said.

______________________________________________________________________ Affected students will be relocated, says Minister Horatti

Govt set to close 1,420 erring schools

DH News Service Bangalore:

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep242006/index2058102006923.asp

The State government on Saturday decided to stick to its decision to withdraw its affiliation with 1,420 primary schools across the State that were conducting classes in English despite being told to hold classes only in the Kannada medium.

In a day of hectic developments, which included several back-to-back meetings with education department officials, litterateurs and private managements, the government refused to heed the requests of school managements to allow them to continue to function at least till the end of the academic year in the interest of students.

In fact, the government is now contemplating initiating similar action against 648 more schools that are yet to reply to the show-cause notices served on them for violating the 1994 Government Order (GO) on medium of instruction. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti told reporters that the estimated 2.73 lakh students affected due to the derecognition process would be relocated to nearby schools and a comprehensive plan for accommodating these displaced students would be prepared by October 10.

This would include a mapping of all schools (government, aided and unaided) within a three-km radius of each derecognised school. The relocation process would be monitored by the jurisdictional block education officers. Counselling sessions would also be held to aid in the process. These sessions would be held in all the derecognised schools and the parents of the affected students would be invited to participate. Mr Horatti said the derecognition process would be applicable only to classes 1 to 5, as per the 1994 GO.

Undeterred by the government’s stand, one private managements’ association said they would continue to run their institutions as private tutorials. Another group said they would appeal against the DDPI’s order on derecognition of schools, before the commissioner of public instruction. Mr Horatti said the government would make it obligatory for schools neighbouring the derecognised schools to admit the displaced students. He said the relocated students would be exempted from paying fees and from wearing uniforms. The government would even consider exempting these students from taking examinations, as a one-time measure, if they found it difficult to adapt to their new schools.

The government’s plan was to relocate the students to Kannada-medium schools. However, those who wished to move to English-medium schools could do so on their own. The government would issue such students ‘Transfer Certificates’ mentioning that they had studied in English, he added. Supporting the government decision, Mr Horatti said that the schools had violated the undertaking they had submitted to the government that they would use Kannada as the medium of instruction.

, and therefore, action was being initiated against them. He said the education department held a meeting here on March 29, after which it had issued circulars to all primary schools started since 1994, directing them to compulsorily conduct classes in Kannada. Another circular had been issued in June, before the start of the new academic year. Subsequently, teams from department had visited all those schools and found that 1,420 out of the total 4,711 schools had violated the norms.

The day witnessed five separate meetings, two at Shikshakara Bhavana and three at Vidhana Soudha. While Mr Horatti convened a meeting of all DDPIs at Shikshakara Bhavana, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy also intervened at one stage and convened an impromptu meeting with the private managements. Litterateurs who met with Mr Kumaraswamy and Mr Horatti during the day supported the government’s move.

THE GOVT DECISION

* No change in govt stand to derecognise primary schools (class 1 to 5) which have violated 1994 GO on medium of instruction.

* Displaced students to be relocated in nearby schools.

* Zone-wise school mapping to be done by Oct 10.

* Relocation of students through counselling

* Uniform, fee exemption for displaced students in new schools. Examination exemption if required.

*It will be mandatory for schools, including unaided institutions, to admit students.

Managements’ stand

* Allow schools to continue till the end of the academic year

* Schools to appeal to the Director of Primary Education to allow them to function

* If the government does not budge, the schools will function as “tutorials”; Rules permit this

* Transfer certificate is not a must to secure admission after 8th standard

* Parents may approach court to get a stay on the derecognition process