Panchayats told to improve govt schools

MYSURU: Amid reports that more parents have started sending their children to government schools due to Covid-19 induced financial crisis, the department of rural development and panchayat raj stepped in to strengthen government schools in villages through gram panchayats.
According to a recent circular issued by Uma Mahadevan, principal secretary, RDPR, panchayat level officials and people’s representatives are asked to work towards empowering local government schools.
According to the circular, panchayat development officers, panchayat president, vice president and members of the social justice committee, education task force are advised to visit government schools in their area at least once in three months. They are asked to hold discussions with the school development and monitoring committees (SDMCs), schoolteachers and ensure student attendance is 100% by providing the required facilities.
Gram panchayat representatives are also advised to provide various facilities to the schools under various government schemes including Jal Jeevan Mission.
According to the advisory, the gram panchayat representatives should prepare a list of facilities available in the schools. The visits will be documented on the Panchatantra website of the department.
Teachers are happy with this decision and have said RDPR’s decision must be enforced in urban limits too.
Chandrashekar Nuggi, general secretary of Government Teachers’ Association said the order will help empower schools. “Gram panchayats are the frontline government agencies which are engaged in rural development. Involving the GPs in school development will have a far-reaching impact. We request the state government to ask the urban development department to issue such orders to upgrade government schools in urban areas,” he said.