BENGALURU: Legislators cutting across party lines on Tuesday demanded in the Assembly that the government start English medium schools in every gram panchayat, thus easing the economic burden on parents. JDS Arasikere MLA Shivalinge Gowda said that education has become a business, and parents are giving blank cheques to pay their children’s fees. “In some places, parents send their children in private vans to English medium schools that are 20km away. Children are made to sit like sheep in the vehicle,” he said.
At the same time, government schools in some rural areas are seeing poor enrolment and are on the verge of closure. “Instead of (closing down schools), government schools with fewer students can be merged and Karnataka Public Schools, which also teach English, can be started in every gram panchayat. This will help schools get more students,” Gowda said.
Several JDS and Congress MLAs chipped in and demanded that English medium schools be opened in panchayat limits. BJP MLA from Theerthahalli, Araga Jnanendra, said when Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri was education minister, there was a similar proposal to merge government schools with poor enrolment, but it was shelved after vested interests called the move “anti-Kannada” and “anti-government school”.