While the State loses sweat over “transfer of power”, over whether swamijis should go abroad, over whether locals have a birth right for railway jobs, the key issues of the day—the state of our schools, the state of our hospitals, the state of our roads, etc—attract abysmal attention from the elected (and self-appointed) soldiers of the language and the land.
Nikhil Moro threw light on Karnataka’s pathetic showing on the Annual State of Education Survey here a few days ago. Shruba Mukherjee, in yesterday’s Deccan Herald, reports that Karnataka is slipping so rapidly on the Composite Education Development Index that it is now ranked lowest among the four southern states, excluding Andhra Pradesh, which is not saying much.
While the State soars over the national average in the enrolment of scheduled caste, other backward castes, and minority children, it is not doing much else well. Access is stationary as the number of primary and higher primary schools remains constant.
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Karnataka’s position on EDI in 2005-06 at primary level: eighth.
Karnataka’s position on EDI in 2006-07 at primary level: twelfth
Karnataka’s position on EDI in 2005-06 at higher primary level: sixth
Karnataka’s position on EDI in 2006-07 at higher primary level: ninth
Karnataka’s overall position in 2005-06: sixthKarnataka’s overall position in 2006-07: eighth
Muslim enrolment at the primary level across the nation: 9.39 per cent
Muslim enrolment at the primary level in Karnataka: 13.54 per cent
Karnataka: 44 per cent of primary schools do not have boundary walls
Read the full story: State slips in education ladder
Also read: Yella not OK, guru. Nanna makkalu is not learning
article says: Muslim enrolment at the primary level across the nation: 9.39 per cent
Muslim enrolment at the primary level in Karnataka: 13.54 per cent
So, how do you think the govt should improve this? What about other minorities?
I hate these Aholes who always put in stats of muslims and let the reader conclude. Reading this, it could very well be that muslims have such low enrollment because of the policies of the govt.
Another survey said the school education itself is flawed all over India, even in the most literate states. Sixth standard children cannot comprehend or answer questions from 2nd standard textbooks.
So, should we overtly worry about the present survey?
At least we are an industrial state making education a ‘big industry’
I heard the American ‘GRE’ examination tests for the ability of the engineering students in high school subjects.
Probably they are well aware of the global phenomena called school education.
Once Bertrand Russell said, ‘Isn’t surprising that our children amount to something in spite of the education they receive?’
Thank God you don’t have Communists in Karnataka. Under 30 years of CPIM rule, West Bengal is now at bottom: just above Bihar, UP and Orissa.
I find some of this funny. No government does absolutely anything about primary education nor does anyone care in the first place. Why are we surprised if we are 4th, 5th or 15th? Are things supposed to be good just because we are Karnataka?
You should be glad that Karanataka is good in the kind of statistics which is important in “secular” India
BC,
Rather,
Thank god Karnataka is not West Bengal.
Would be better if you kept your rabble-rousing within West Bengal.
Does this survey take Madarassas into account? I don’t think so. If it had the figure for national average should be a lot higher. It’s bad that Karnataka performs so badly on all other counts. The education ministers of the last three governments in Karnataka should be castrated
A friend of mine who teaches business journalism at the post grad level in Bangalore was telling me he had to teach calculating per centages and decimal numbers to his student. EDI ranking of Karnataka makes sense
One of the most important problems facing the government-run schools in Karnataka is that of teachers.
If I can draw conclusions from whatever I saw during my stint as a government servant for 3-1/2 years, I can say that there is too much politics involved. Caste-based politics is one of them. In fact government schools attract better-qualified teachers in rural parts at least, because of the exam-based selection process that used to take place. But once getting into the system, most of them just follow the routine.
There are some posts called BRC and CRC who are in charge of particular block and clusters of schools, and these guys mostly are loitering around the BEO office, or else are seen smoking and drinking in office hours.
Starting from the process of appointment and transfer of teachers and BEOs, everything is dirty politics here. Teachers are mostly worried about how to get transferred to a better place, whom to dislodge from that place etc. And the situation is getting more and more grim. With so many interventions starting from the MLA, MLC, ZP member, TP member, SDMC etc its in a big mess of sorts.
There is also too much work load on these teachers, apart from the regular teaching stuff. They need to look after the mid-day meal scheme, do population surveys, animal and livestock surveys, take part in polling activities, etc. There is not satisfactory remuneration too.
So its a really big mess out there.