Development of government schools is the foundation to national development – Prof. M.R. Doreswamy

Hon’ble Adviser, Education Reforms, GoK. Prof. M.R. Doreswamy appealed to all stakeholders, particularly the elected representatives and corporate sector to give momentum to development of government schools and help the government to deliver school education to all sections of society, not a privileged few. Although, 7 decades have elapsed since nation got independence, status of the government schools still demands proper infrastructure. Prof. M R Doreswamy said that since last year, this issue has gained momentum by adding new dimensions to school adoption policy such as; 1) adoption of 3/5/10 government schools by MLAs & MLCs/MPs/Universities and 2) adoption of government schools by higher educational institutions. About 3000 schools have recently been adopted by these new initiatives, first in the country; A social movement is necessary to cover the 30,000 needy schools in the next 2 years. Involvement of corporate and industrial sectors is envisaged to reach the target.

In this context, he appreciated the keen interest evinced by Hon’ble MLAs Sri. Ramalinga Reddy, Sri. V. Somanna and Sri Bandeppa Kashempur and Sri Chidananda, MLC and who have already commenced development of adopted schools. He paid rich tributes to Sri. Basavaraja Horatti, Hon’ble Chairperson, Legislative Council, Govt. of Karnataka for his kind intervention to convey the government’s request to join hands for development of government schools. He appealed to other elected representatives also to join the programme to help students from all sections across the state. Calling attention motions by Hon’ble MLAs Smt. Lakshmi Hebbalkar and Smt Soumya Reddy through illuminative questions and Sri Thippeswamy, Hon’ble MLC are silver lines indicating that the issue would gather momentum in the coming days. He thanked Smt Sudha Murthy, co-chairman, INFOSYS Foundation to offer digitalization of all government schools in Dharwad District. He also commended donation of 2000 desks to government schools in Dharwad distrit by Hon’ble union minister Sri Prahlad Joshi.

Prof. Doreswamy thanked Hon’ble chief Minister Sri B.S. Yediyurappa for including 2 of his recommendations 1) Development of schools studied by Jnanapeeta awardees from Karnataka and 2) Training all teachers and education department staff for the requirements of National Education Policy 2020.

Prof. Doreswamy called for effective utilization of Jal Jeevan Mission- Parihara programme funds on the lines of Telengana state which has achieved 100 % success in this regard. He cited the statement of Sri. K.S. Eshwarappa, Hon’ble minister for RDPR in the council that about 11,284 schools are yet to get separate toilets in the state.

Narrating his personal experiences while visiting government schools in Ramanagara, Chennapattana and Magadi Taluks, Prof. Doreswamy said that the quality of work undertaken under Parihara needs a relook by the government.

To address the above issues Prof. Doreswamy has constituted a state level advisory committee to monitor development of adopted schools. This measure would give valuable feedback as well as enhance stakeholder confidence towards this important initiative, he said.

Given the importance of value education to prepare the youth towards building a morally strong social fabric, Hon’ble Adviser is releasing a book with 35 stories contributed by teachers of PES Colleges.

Before addressing the press, Prof. Doreswamy had received valuable feedback from heads of 35 universities/autonomous colleges regarding the progress of developmental work taken by them. A state-wide tour is contemplated to take stock of the issues and make course corrections in action plan, Prof. Doreswamy said.

- Dr. M R Doreswamy, Chancellor, PES University