Bangalore: Block Education Officers (BEOs) in Karnataka, who are forever inundated with administrative work, can now pay more attention to improving the quality of education.

In a move aimed at decentralising the system, the Education Department has decided to appoint Cluster Education Officers in the 2,650 education clusters of Karnataka, thereby reducing the burden on BEOs.

The 202 BEOs were handling both administrative and academic matters of 250 to 300 schools each. The cluster-level officers will now share this burden by closely monitoring 25 to 30 schools each, which fall in their jurisdiction. This mode of decentralisation is the first effort of its kind in India.

M. Madan Gopal, Commissioner of the Department of Public Instruction, said: "BEOs are caught up in routine administrative work such as clearing leave applications and maintaining service records of about 600 to 800 teachers each. It is hard for teachers because they have to travel long distances and approach the BEO for everything."

He told The Hindu that cluster officers would be chosen from among senior high schools headmasters in their respective clusters, who would handle this additional charge.

The proposal, cleared by the Finance Department and awaiting Cabinet approval, says in the introduction: "Karnataka has made considerable progress on enrolment and retention of children aged between 6 and 14. But the State's performance as far as quality is concerned is not promising." One of the reasons cited for slow progress on improving quality was that BEOs did not have time to apply their mind on matters of quality and there were no monitoring officers below this level.

Responsibilities of the cluster officer, both academic and administrative, had been identified under 27 different heads.

These include visiting five primary schools every month, holding discussions with teachers and recognising schools, which needed assistance on improving quality of education.

It entailed encouraging primary and high school teachers to form groups based on the subject they taught and exchanging ideas. The cluster officer would ensure that facilities available within the cluster, such as libraries and laboratories, could be used by children in all government primary schools in the region. Links between primary and high schools, the proposal notes, is weak in Karnataka and hampers continuation of education.

Cluster officers will be provided an assistant each and other facilities such as an office, stationery and a computer. The creation of these special posts will mean a recurring expenditure of Rs. 14 crore and an annual recurring expenditure of Rs. 4.24 crore.

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