BENGALURU: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education BC Nagesh on Wednesday claimed that the hijab issue did not impact attendance of girls from the minority community writing the SSLC exams. Absenteeism of girls from the community was just 1.8 per cent, while it was 2.2 per cent among girls from other communities, a survey conducted by the education department in 14 districts for a day during the recent SSLC exams, he said.
Nagesh to the media in Bengaluru, “In all, 98.8 per cent girls and 98.2 per cent boys attended the SSLC exams. Due to the pandemic situation, since students who had scored low were also promoted to the next class last year, enrolment by private candidates (not regular students who come to schools) this year was high as they expected it this year too. So a majority of absentees were private candidates. This minor variation in attendance of SSLC exams is not new, and has been there in previous years too. In fact, attendance was high this year, compared to earlier years,” Nagesh defended.
Nagesh said at least 25 to 33 per cent of in-service teachers will be promoted without exams. A decision in this regard will be taken this week, he said. He was speaking at the state-level workshop on ‘Kalika Chetharike’ for representatives of teachers’ associations from across the state, hosted by the Department of State Educational Research and Training, in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Nagesh said a survey by the education department and Central government indicates that the quality of learning among schoolchildren had dropped during the Covid pandemic. In order to improve the quality of learning among children, the state has taken up the flagship programme ‘Kalika Chetharike’, he said.
Representatives from over 140 teachers’ associations from across the state participated in the workshop.