Karnataka - Bangalore

Schools to go ‘attractive’, reopen on May 30

Bangalore: About 95 lakh children will go back to school across Karnataka on May 30, and around 10 to 11 lakh children are expected to join Standard 1 this year.

Speaking to presspersons here on Tuesday, Commissioner for Public Instruction G. Kumar Naik said that efforts were afoot to make schools “attractive” to children from day one with innovative and interactive programmes.

While infrastructure facilities like classrooms and toilets have been put in place, four lakh textbooks have already been printed and uniforms have been supplied to schools, he said. The department has released a diary of the academic schedule for the year for all schools to follow.

Mid-day meals will be served to children from the first day of school, and in some places, thanks to the initiative of local people, children will be treated to a feast on the opening day, added Mr. Naik. Block Education Officers and members of School Development and Monitoring Committees have taken many initiatives, including organising cultural and sports festivals on the opening day, he said. While the rate of attendance is about 80 per cent in Karnataka schools, as per a survey done by National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), the department will work towards reaching the 100 per cent mark, he said. Mr. Naik admitted that the introduction of English from Standard 1 in the last academic year had not yielded expected results since it was introduced in a hurry. He said teacher training would be strengthened to make it more effective from this year.

The remedial teaching programme, initiated to help students who perform poorly by providing extra coaching beyond class hours, has achieved a success rate of 52 per cent. The target will be 80 per cent in the coming year, said P. Eshwar Bhat, Director, Programmes, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

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