BENGALURU: Government school teachers on Friday approached the chief minister, seeking redressal of their grievance over the new holiday structure for government offices. The new rules, teachers said, reduced their annual holidays from 15 to 10, and works against them as they are required to work on both second and fourth Saturdays.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, at the formal launch of 1,000 Government English-Medium Schools, 100 Karnataka Public Schools and pre-primary schools, told the teachers not to panic and offered them his support. "I am yet to go through the letter thoroughly, but I will resolve the mix-up with regard to the new holiday rule," he said.
Addressing the lack of infrastructure for residential schools, Kumaraswamy said a meeting was held with the deputy chief minister, deputy commissioners and chief executive officers about the various problems plaguing residential schools, and said the loopholes will be plugged on priority. Turning a deaf ear to the complaints of teachers about technical glitches in online transfer applications, the chief minister lauded the system as "transparent" and beneficial for teachers.
Kumaraswamy said the introduction of English medium in government schools will put students from an economically backward background at an advantage, in times of tough competition. "In present times, the necessity of English is known.
However, Deputy CM Parameshwara and I are not opposed to Kannada and want to save the language," he responded to criticism by Kannada enthusiasts for introducing English in state-run schools. Parameshwara distributed cheques for Rs 45 lakh to four Karnataka Public Schools to implement the guidelines for school development planning.