Mangaluru: The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is all set to introduce English medium in class 1 at 43 government schools in Dakshina Kannada district in this academic year.
Addressing the reporters at Zilla Panchayat mini hall on Saturday, June 1, Dakshina Kannada District In-charge Minister U T Khader said, “Proper infrastructure has been provided to all these 43 government schools to ensure that there is no inconvenience for the students. Special training also has been provided to the government school teachers to teach the English subject. There is a huge demand from several schools in Dakshina Kannada district to start English medium in class 1, for which permission will be given only after discussing with the minister for primary education.”
Expressing displeasure over the SSLC results in Dakshina Kannada district, Khader said, “Dakshina Kannada district has slipped to the seventh position in the entire state which should not repeat next year. Hence, a meeting of the Block Education Officers (BEO) and concerned teachers will be convened by inviting them to find the reason. Later, a proper work plan will be initiated to secure good results in SSLC in the next academic year.”
Meanwhile, Khader informed that 80 per cent of the textbooks had already been disbursed to all the schools in Dakshina Kannada district and that proper measures would be taken to distribute textbooks to the remaining schools. “If any school has a shortage of drinking water, proper measures would be taken, he added.
When asked about the strong opposition by Anganwadi school teachers against starting pre-primary classes in government schools, Khader said that it was inevitable for the government to take appropriate measures to prevent children from joining private schools. “Providing education in English medium is the need of the hour now, as we should prepare our children to face any challenge in their life. However, there is no plan to shut Anganwadi schools for starting pre-primary schools in government schools. There is a demand to start pre-primary schools in Anganwadis. A decision in this regard is yet to be taken by the government”, he said.
Mangaluru Taluk Panchayat President Mohammed Monu, Zilla Panchayat member Mamatha Gatti among others were present.
