The State’s initiative on opening English-medium sections in select government schools has found support in a group of people. However, the move seems to have brought its own share of problems for government schools, which do not have English-medium sections.

With parents preferring to send children to the Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) that have English-medium sections, government schools in neighbouring villages face the issue of their strength further dwindling. KPS schools, besides having English medium, have classes from Lower KG to 12. The Education Department has decided to set up 276 government schools as KPS.

Mahadev, headmaster of KPS at Rayarakoplu in Alur taluk of Hassan district, said that with all seats filled up in the school, he has been trying to convince parents to let children continue in government schools close to their homes. “We don’t want to disturb other government schools. But, parents have lined up to get a seat in our school,” he said.

Publicity campaigns

The teachers of KPS have undertaken several publicity campaigns which has lead to a huge demand for these schools. Compared to government primary schools, where students are admitted only for Kannada-medium classes, KP schools have smartclasses, interactive blackboards, sufficient teachers, and a good number of classrooms. “There are reasons for the parents to opt for KPS, instead of a regular small school with one teacher. It is a sad fact that by setting up one KPS, we are closing down at least two-three old government schools gradually,” said an officer, who did not want to be named.

Another officer said the idea of KPS was to be on a par with private schools that collect a heavy fee. “But many government schools are also facing the heat. In some schools, those located within a radius of three-four km of KPS, there have been no fresh admissions,” another official said.

The situation is similar in north Karnataka. At KPS in Aurad (B) village of Kalaburagi north block, there were 36 applications for LKG and 57 for class 1 against the limited seats of just 30 in their respective category. Parents from villages far away have also applied for admissions.

Both Alagud and Bannur villages have good government schools with classes from 1 to 8 operating since several decades. The number of admissions in these schools is less compared to the previous years because many have applied in Aurad (B) KPS.

Even in the Aurad (B) KPS, not a single application has been received for Kannada-medium section of class 1. It used to get around 30 applications every year. Rohidas, headmaster of the school, hopes he will get more than 20 students for Kannada medium after filling of English medium through a lottery method.

“We have 10 KPS in the district and all face the same problem. The applications received in these schools are for English medium. We have to fill the Kannada-medium sections only after filling the limited English-medium schools,” Channabasappa Mudhol, block education officer, Kalaburagi north, told The Hindu.

Private schools’ woes

Three private English-medium schools that are operating in Aurad (B) village have hardly received any applications as most parents prefer KPS.

“Private school managements are expressing apprehensions about the future of their schools. The demand for KPS is such that a couple from a village in Afzalpur taluk, around 70 km away from Aurad (B), has applied for their child,” Mr. Rohidas said.

Basavaraj Gurikar, president, Karnataka State Government Primary School Teachers’ Association, however pointed out that those applying to KPS were parents who would have otherwise sent their children to private schools. “More than government schools, it is private schools that are facing the heat owing to KPS,” he said.

(Inputs from Sathish G.T. in Hassan, Kumar Buradikatti in Kalaburagi, and Tanu Kulkarni in Bengaluru)

‘Will run school even if only one child is enrolled’

Allaying fears of teachers who are worried about low student enrolment in many government schools, the Department of Public Instruction has said that they would ensure that government schools will function even if one child was enrolled. P.C. Jaffer, Commissioner for Public Instruction, said that without looking at economically viability, the school will run even with a single student.

Teachers in several government schools, which have recorded low student enrolment this year and with the government school in the neighbouring village being granted English-medium classes, are anxious that they maybe transferred to other schools. “The government decides how many teachers must be deployed in the school based on the pupil-teacher ratio. We are worried that if we do not have enough students, we will be transferred to another school in the middle of the academic year,” said a government headmaster of a school in Chamarajanagar.