Latest news with #SDMC
Time of India
18 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
Century-old school struggles without permanent teachers despite good admissions
1 2 Mangaluru: The plight of the century-old Tenkayedapadavu Higher Primary School is different from that of usual govt schools in the district. Despite seeing good admissions, the school lacks permanent teachers. The aided school has been functioning without permanent teachers for the last two academic years. After the retirement of the headmaster, Krishna Naik, in May 2022, the govt did not appoint any teachers here, making it a teacher-less school since then. Currently, it is managed by guest teachers appointed by the SDMC and one through the Jnana Deepa programme. Prasad Kumar M, an SDMC member of the school, shared that the school will complete 100 years in 2026. In the past, the school had a total of over 500 students, which has now reduced to 54, studying from Class I to Class VII. "However, despite having a substantial number of admissions, the education department is unwilling to provide us with one or two permanent teachers. After the retirement of Naik, Sannolli UD, a teacher at the Sri Niranjan Swamy Aided Higher Primary School, Sunkadakatte, was deputed for a few days a week. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo After the retirement of the permanent teacher at Sunkadakatte, she stopped coming, and from last year, there has been no permanent teacher. Due to competition from English medium and private schools, the number of students has been declining year by year. In 2023-24, the number of students was 62, in 2024-25 it was 57, and in 2025-26 it was 54. "We have reached out to our MLA, DDPI, and BEO in the past, but no positive response was received. This academic year, we are again trying our luck to get a permanent teacher and save this school from closure. There is hope for more admissions if the govt appoints permanent teachers," said Kumar, adding that they have plans to open a kindergarten. With no permanent teachers, the school is managed by three guest teachers. With the cooperation of the SDMC and parents, two guest teachers have been working since 2018-19. They are paid by the SDMC, where money is collected from parents and locals. One teacher has been working under the 'Jnana Deepa' project of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP). "Whenever we approached govt officials, they stated that according to govt education policy, it does not appoint guest teachers for aided schools," said Kumar, demanding that aided schools too need to survive. HR Eshwara, BEO, South, said that the office has sent information about teacher-less aided primary and high schools to the govt. The process of teacher recruitment and appointment is ongoing, he added.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Ed-tech startup, IT firm to provide digital learning access to govt schools
Mangaluru: A city-based ed-tech startup, which has partnered with an IT firm, launched free digital learning access for 1,000 students in govt Kannada medium schools across Dakshina Kannada for the 2024-25 academic year. Cherrilearn, the ed-tech startup, partnered with CodeCraft Technologies, headquartered in Mangaluru, with offices in the United States and Canada. It is a CSR activity of CodeCraft Technologies. The initiative was formally inaugurated earlier this month with implementation in two govt schools in Uli village, Bantwal taluk, reaching 300 students in its first phase. The platform offers gamified, interactive, curriculum-aligned content in Kannada, designed for primary school students in rural areas, accessible even in low-bandwidth environments. The inauguration was led by Jobin Joseph PJ, operations lead at CodeCraft Technologies, and Shrinidhi RS, CEO of Cherrilearn, Sajna Bhaskar, human resource team lead at Cherrilearn, and other team members, in the presence of Vishalakshi CS and Purushothama, headmistress and SDMC president of Government Primary School, Uli, and Mamatha and Rohinatha Gowda, headmistress and SDMC president of Government Primary School, Ulibail. To ensure smooth implementation, the startup signed an official MoU with the department of school education & literacy, Dakshina Kannada, establishing a coordinated framework for deployment and monitoring in collaboration with school authorities. "This collaboration marks a significant step toward educational equity for rural learners," said Shrinidhi RS, founder of the startup. "We are committed to leveraging technology to empower students from underserved communities with the tools they need to succeed," he said. It aims to onboard one lakh students studying in govt Kannada medium schools across Karnataka during the current academic year through similar CSR-backed partnerships.
Borneo Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- Borneo Post
Call on relevant authorities to be transparent on Rantau Panjang Jaya restoration
Chiew (left) inspects the site affected by the landslide. SIBU (June 18): The relevant authorities should give the public clear updates on the current status of the Rantau Panjang Jaya restoration project. Democratic Action Party (DAP) committee member Stanley Chiew said the landslide at Rantau Panjang Jaya, which occurred five months ago, had taken a heavy toll on the residents staying at the affected stretch. 'Residents are still looking for answers but to date, there is still not development taking place, no updates, and everything just came to a standstill. Right now, they are all completely in the dark. 'The 38 residents affected by the landslide are still waiting in vain, hoping every day for reconstruction to begin so they can eventually repair their homes and return to their lives,' he told reporters during a site visit yesterday. Chiew said the residents wanted to know when the restoration project would begin, what stage it was in, how long it would take and when it would be completed. 'Before the Hari Raya celebrations, the relevant authorities visited the site and publicly pledged emergency funding had been approved. They promised restoration work would begin immediately after the festive season. 'However, even the Gawai Dayak festival has come and gone; the site remains completely silent with no signs of construction and no official updates whatsoever.' He said they also wanted to know when the lighting at Jalan Teku would be fixed. 'The landslide caused the closure of Seventh Lane's main exit, which significantly disrupted the daily commute for local residents. However, they have no choice but to rely solely on Jalan Teku for access. 'However, this road lacks proper lighting, leaving it pitch black at night. On top of that, potholes frequently appear, posing a serious safety risk — if an accident or closure occurs along Jalan Teku, residents here will have no other way to get out. If an emergency happens, help will be delayed and the situation could become very serious,' he said. Chiew said what was even more disappointing was that the affected area falls under the Nangka constituency, which is represented by Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee, and as a high-ranking official in the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) administration, he should actively work with the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to get things moving. He said Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Michael Tiang also had an obligation to step in and coordinate efforts. 'Unfortunately, I have seen no proactive measures taken by any GPS state ADUNs/YBs in response to this issue, even though they are all part of the Sarawak government. 'Let me stress this clearly — the SDMC and its implementing agencies operate under the Sarawak government and the five GPS ADUNs in Sibu — Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Dudong and Bawang Assan — have a responsibility to care for the people living here. 'Although this area falls under Nangka, the residents living here come from many different voting areas including Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Dudong and Bawang Assan. They bought houses and moved here, but their voting address remains in their original constituencies,' he said. As such, he said elected representatives should not use constituency boundaries as an excuse to avoid responsibility. landslide lead Lorong Rantau Panjang Jaya restoration Stanley Chiew
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Edu dept issues notice to 207 schools over poor SSLC results
Koppal: The education department of Koppal district has issued notices to 207 school principals, including 132 from govt schools, whose performance fell below the district average in this year's SSLC examination. "We wish to identify the teachers' duties and the impediments to better results," said DDPI Srishail Biradar. The district achieved a 56.6% pass rate, with 92 schools scoring below 40%. Koppal district, which ranked 16th in the state three years ago, dropped to 32nd position with 66.2% two years ago. The recent results show a further decline to 56.6%. Koppal district contains 342 high schools: 107 in Gangavathi, 85 in Koppal and Yalburga and 65 in Kushtagi educational taluk. The distribution includes 219 govt, 32 aided and 91 unaided schools, with govt schools showing a significant decline. Schools scoring below 40% include 25 in Gangavathi, 29 in Koppal taluk, 17 in Kushtagi taluk and 21 in Yalburga educational taluk. There are concerns regarding the quality of children's reading, the teaching capabilities of teachers, the state of the school environment and the consistency of student attendance. The notice aims to gather information for improving results in the next academic year. The education department will analyse the headmasters' responses to create a comprehensive report. Govt school headmasters have voiced their opposition. One headteacher, speaking anonymously, notes, "According to govt rules, schools should run for 220 days a year. However, this is only possible on paper. A lot of time is being wasted on works for govt departments and local administration programmes." The headteachers said the department failed to implement measures to uphold the quality of education at the primary level. "It does not hold primary school teachers accountable for the academic shortcomings of students," they said. They said, "Most crucially, children who do not achieve even a basic level of learning are not permitted to fail. As a result, these underperforming students are advancing to SSLC, leading to a decline in overall results. How can only high school teachers be blamed for this?" Teachers have expressed worries about local political meddling, SDMC (School Development and Monitoring Committee) involvement, their deployment for non-teaching duties and harassment from education officials under the guise of inspections, all of which negatively impact teaching standards. Teachers are also deliberating on what would constitute an appropriate response to the notice without risking consequences.
The Hindu
06-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Government extends distribution of eggs/bananas to children in pre-primary classes in government schools
The Karnataka government has extended the distribution of eggs and bananas to children in pre-primary classes of government schools from the academic year 2025-26. With this, a total of 1,98,270 pre-primary students in government schools across the State have become beneficiaries of the scheme. Children who do not consume eggs will be given two bananas every day, on all working days. Earlier, eggs and bananas were being provided to only students of class 1 to class 10 of government and aided schools. The State government issued an order on June 5 to distribute eggs and bananas as supplementary nutrition to students in collaboration with the Azim Premji Foundation. Total beneficiaries Till 2024-25, there were 2,619 pre-primary classes in government schools across the State. In view of the huge demand, they were started in 5,000 more government schools from this academic year at a cost of about ₹70 crore. The State's School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC) has welcomed the government's move to extend egg/banana distribution to pre-primary students. 'Distribution of eggs/bananas is beneficial for the physical and mental development of young children,' said Umesh G. Gangavadi, president of the SDMC. Last year, groundnut chikkis used to be given to children who did not eat eggs and bananas. However, the government stopped their distribution because the suppliers provided poor quality chikkis. The State government has earmarked a total of ₹755.62 crore this year for the distribution of eggs/bananas to students from pre-primary classes to class 10. With this, 51,61,390 children — 40,47,461 in government schools and 11,13,929 government-aided schools, will be the beneficiaries of the scheme. The foundation signed an agreement with the government last year to provide a grant of ₹1,500 crore for three years for the distribution of eggs/bananas as additional nutrition to government school children. Accordingly, this year, the foundation is providing ₹501.68 crore, and the remaining ₹253.94 crore will be borne by the State government. Emphasis on transparency To ensure transparency in the scheme, the attendance of all children who are in school at 11 a.m. every day is collected and entered in the Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS) portal. The headmaster of schools has been instructed to confirm this information with an e-signature through OTP and submit it to the Commissioner of Public Instruction and other department officials. Every day, during morning prayer, the headmaster should inform the students about the nutrients and benefits of eggs and bananas. In addition, at least 10 parents should be invited by the headmaster every week randomly to have midday meals with the schoolchildren. Increase the unit cost In view of the price rise, there has been a demand from teachers of government schools to increase the unit cost given by the government for eggs/bananas. 'An egg costs around ₹6.50 in the market. And, a medium-sized banana costs at least ₹5. However, the government has fixed a unit cost of just ₹6 for an egg/banana. The government has instructed us to provide two good-quality bananas to children who do not eat eggs. At least ₹10 to ₹12 has to be paid for two bananas. This will create a huge financial burden on teachers. Therefore, the government should increase the unit cost of eggs/bananas,' said the headmaster of a government school in Bengaluru.
