MANGALURU: Stating that over 1,600 schools and PU colleges are operating illegally in the state, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said the government is cautious in taking action against them in the interest of students who have taken admission in those institutes.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, Bangarappa said the managements that have availed permission to run these institutes and the ones that are actually running them are different, and the addresses that are mentioned are also different. In order to make them fall in line, he said the norms to avail permission have been made more strict from the next academic year.
Mentioning that harsher action cannot be taken against these institutions, since it will affect students in the middle of the year, Bangarappa, however, said that the erring institutions have been given time to rectify mistakes.
Referring to the matter of reducing weight of school bags, he said that his department has worked out a formula to reduce the same by 1/3rd compared to the present weight. He justified the government’s decision to conduct Board exams for Classes 9 and 11, stating that it will help them prepare for the public exams in Classes 10 and 12.
Stating that over 53,000 government school teacher posts remain vacant in the state, he said there will be marked improvement in this regard in a year. About 2,000 bi-lingual Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) will be opened, and there will be one KPS for every 2-3 gram panchayats.
To a query, the minister stated that some PU colleges conducting classes for 12 hours a day is not acceptable, and called for a stop to such practices.