School may be allowed to function till end of academic year
Parents and teachers at Orchids, The International School at Jalahalli in Bengaluru, as school repoened on Monday – R. Samuel
Bengaluru: The primary and secondary education department is expected to allow Orchids, the international school, Jalahalli to restart all classes (between pre-nursery and Std VII) from Thursday.
Primary and secondary education minister Mr. Kimmane Rathnakar has given his assurance that this will take place. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle after a telephonic conversation with minister Mr. Kimmane Rathnakar, former law minister and BJP leader Mr.S Suresh Kumar announced that the minister has agreed to consider this as a special case. Mr. S Suresh Kumar took part in Monday's protest in front of the school organized by the parents’ association of the school.
"Minister .Kimmane has assured of taking a positive decision keeping in mind the interest of 967 students studying in the school. He gave indications of extending the permission of the school till the end of this academic year to ensure that students will complete their respective classes this year," he said.
Earlier in the day, the school campus witnessed tense moments as hundreds of parents staged a dharna demanding that the school authorities and DPI restart classes for all the students. Tight police security was provided on the campus to avoid any untoward incident. Block Education Officer (BEO) (Bengaluru North 2) Mr. VC Basavarajegowda visited the school around 12 noon for verification of documents. Later he confirmed to the parents that the school is an illegal one.
"At the time of inspection I found that the school is following the CBSE curriculum between STD I and V, in violation of the state act. I will forward a report to my superiors over this," he said. "Assignments, extra-curricular activities were carried out as per the CBSE guidelines. This has revealed that the school is not following the state board syllabus," he said. Agitating parents had a verbal duel with BEO Mr. VC Basavarajegowda over the fate of their children. He expressed his helplessness and informed them that he can only forward a report about this.
Between 1994 and 2014, the state government has issued permission to more than 14,000 schools (non CBSE/ICSE). In these schools, the medium of instruction is supposed to be Kannada from classes one to five. But most of the schools have been violating the rule for the last several years. Even after the SC judgement, the state government is not ready to consider these schools as English medium from the STD I. The problem starts here. The only option left before the DPI is D. Shashikumar, Secretary Karnataka Private Schools-Joint Action Committee
It is not fair to shut down the school in the middle of an academic year. It is not possible for schoolchildren to search for a new school or get adjusted to a new environment. The school has already set up the infrastructure. The DPI can allow the school management to reopen the school till the end of this academic year by imposing a fine. Prof. M.S. Thimmappa, well-known academic
( Source : dc correspondent )
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