Mangaluru: Mangalore MLA U T Khader urged the state government to have some clarity on the reopening of schools and colleges across the state.
“Owing to dilly-dallying policies of the government, many teachers from private schools have been pushed to hardship,” Khader told reporters at Congress Bhavan on Saturday.
He said the government’s apathy towards the teaching community had forced Congress to avoid participating in the teachers day programmes organised by the departments concerned.
The government has no clarity on reducing the syllabus of school and college curriculum, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are no proper guidelines on how to implement the mid-day meals for the children.
He urged the government to conduct a survey of school dropouts across the state and impress upon parents on the need to enrol their children in the school.
As per the statistics with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), 13,500 children from Vijayapura, Bidar, Kalburgi, Koppala, Ballari and Dharwad had dropped out of from schools. A majority of them are girl students. The government should announce interest-free loans for private schools, to help them pay salaries of the teachers, he said.
In addition, the government should announce tax concessions for schools and pass on the benefit of tax concession to parents by reducing fees. Owing to the negligence of the government, RTE (Right To Education) has remained only on paper. The government should also announce a relief package for teachers serving in private schools. The MLA urged the government to give priority to the mental wellbeing of schoolchildren.
There are possibilities of children developing issues due to lack of interaction with other children due to the Covid-19 restrictions. The government should start counselling centres for such children in every taluk, he added.
Khader accused BJP of neglecting Dakshina Kannada district. He said no new projects had been announced to the district after the BJP came to power.
All the projects that were sanctioned during the Congress and the coalition government under Smart City Mission are still being discussed, he said while referring to the projects of RuB at Mahakalipadpu.
“Why can’t the authorities sort out the land issue by speaking to the owners and start the project?” he asked.