BENGALURU: Amidst the debate of cancelling or reconsidering the implementation of Nali Kali programme in government primary schools, the department of school education and literacy has decided to drop the programme in 15 districts.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa also confirmed the decision. “Since bilingual classes – English and Kannada – will be introduced from Class 1, unlike the earlier practice of teaching only in Kannada medium. Hence, the programme (Nali Kali) will be cancelled primarily in schools in 15 districts in Karnataka.”
Commissioner for School Education Vikas Kishor Suralkar also confirmed the decision. He said, “There will be monograding for Classes 1 to 3 students from the next academic year. Nali Kali was introduced where resources (teachers) were lower in number, so that students from Classes 1 to 3 could be taught in the same class by the same teacher. Several government schools that came under the scheme of PM-SHRI or Model government schools, which had sufficient numbers of teachers, were not part of the Nali Kali programme. Now that we have decided to appoint more teachers, the programme is being dropped in 15 districts.”
This has left government primary school teachers puzzled, “We have 35 students in Class 1 to 3. Admissions for Class 1 are due and students in Class 3 are being promoted. We are not informed if this programme will continue, or be replaced with new curriculum and textbooks”, said a government primary school teacher in Raichur.
90% of students lack writing skills
Ravikumar Neeha, who prepared the Nali Kali report submitted to the education minister, said, “Nali Kali is a wonderful programme where children learn through activities, but it doesn’t impart writing skills for Class 1 to 3 students. When children are promoted to Class 4, they lack competence in writing and reading.
Only 10% of the students can adapt to the traditional form of learning. Only 10% of these children can excel in high school. The remaining 90% of the students lacked ability to write anything except their names after joining class 4.
Each class must be limited to 5 students to make Nali Kali more impactful, to focus on each learner and yield positive results. Periodic training for teachers to implement Nali Kali in class and continuous assessment of teachers through exams and various activities are also recommended.”