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Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Karnataka schools get notices for poor SSLC results, teachers cite systemic issues
Bengaluru: The department of school education and literacy has begun issuing show-cause notices to headmasters and headmistresses (HMs) of govt and aided schools across Karnataka, pulling them up for poor SSLC-1 results. The move comes as part of a wider drive to improve academic performance in state-run institutions. Schools where the pass percentage has fallen below the state average of 60% have been served notices, demanding explanations for the poor outcomes. It was seen from the results that they did not take adequate measures to improve the academic performance of the students and "this reflects negligence and dereliction of duty," the notice stated, directing the HMs to respond within seven days. The move follows a directive from chief minister Siddaramaiah, who recently emphasised the need for accountability among officials for underperformances of schools. The department has also gone a step further with aided schools. District deputy directors of public instruction (DDPIs) have been told to identify subject-wise teachers whose results fell below 60% and withhold their annual increments. If a subject continues to record poor results for three consecutive years, salary grants for those teachers will be stopped. Aided high schools that fail to achieve a minimum 50% pass rate in SSLC exams for five years in a row stand to lose govt funding altogether. "All field-level education officers must monitor compliance with these conditions and submit a follow-up report after SSLC results each year," a circular directed. While the crackdown has been welcomed in some quarters, many teachers argue that it unfairly targets them while ignoring systemic issues. "There's a huge shortage of teachers. By the time we get students in high school, they often lack even basic reading and writing skills. We're expected to build everything from scratch. Yet, we're the ones being blamed," a govt school teacher said. Education experts and teacher associations are calling for a more holistic approach. "Teachers should be freed from non-academic work. Basic infrastructure and resources must be prioritised. Above all, filling vacant teacher posts must be the first step if results are to improve," Manjunath HK, former president of the Karnataka State High School Teachers Association, said. Responding to the criticism, commissioner Trilok Chandra KV said the department is open to hearing the HMs' issues. "Let them send their explanations, and we will consider them accordingly," he said. ————- 3 weeks into academic year, students yet to get shoes and socks Times News Network Bengaluru: Nearly three weeks after the start of the new academic year, govt and aided schools across Karnataka are still awaiting funds to provide shoes and socks to their students. The academic year began on May 29, and while students received textbooks and uniforms on time, the promised footwear is yet to arrive. With no clarity on when the items will be distributed, students are either reusing old pairs — if they can still fit in — or are turning up at school in sandals, slippers or even barefooted. "We are expecting the govt order to be issued this week. The money will be transferred directly to the school development and monitoring committees (SDMCs). We had sent the proposal to the govt a long time ago," said Trilok Chandra KV, commissioner, department of school education and literacy. Last year, the govt had sanctioned around Rs 121 crore to distribute shoes and socks to over 42 lakh students in classes 1 to 10. Depending on the grade, the expenditure per child ranged between Rs 265 and Rs 325. However, the delays in releasing funds have once again highlighted the apathy towards public school children. "Due to heavy rainfall this year, many children are suffering without proper footwear. Some are forced to attend classes in torn shoes or barefooted," Ajay Kamath, state secretary, All India Democratic Students Organisation (Aidso), said. Teachers echoed similar concerns. "Students were asked to buy one pair of shoes and two pairs of socks. But with the meagre budget last year, SDMCs could only afford poor-quality footwear. Those are already worn out. Most students now come in slippers or sandals," a govt school teacher in Bengaluru, said.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Siblings booked in Rs 12 lakh fraud case
Times News Network Ludhiana: The Malhotra siblings, who owned an immigration office, have been booked for duping a resident of Moga of Rs 12 lakh on the pretext of arranging a UK study visa. The FIR has been lodged by Model Town Police on the complaint of Gurmeet Singh of Moga against Amit Malhotra and his sister Veenu Malhotra. The victim filed a police complaint on September 24, 2024 saying that he wanted to go to the United Kingdom on study visa, for which he approached the accused. The accused accepted Rs 12 lakh from him but did not arrange a visa. He did not return the money either. Sub-inspector Parminder Singh, investigating officer, said that the police lodged an FIR under sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal intimidation) of the IPC against the duo. The accused are already facing multiple FIRs in similar fraud cases. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Time of India
11-year-old boy dies after being hit by speeding truck
Times News Network Ludhiana: An 11-year-old boy died in a road accident at Humbran road on Friday morning. His agitated relatives staged a protest by blocking the Humbran road. The victim, Vivek, 11, a resident of dairy complex, was crossing the road when a speeding mini truck hit him, killing him on the spot. The accused driver escaped from the spot. Ranjita, mother of the deceased, said that at around 8am on Friday, she asked Vivek to get milk from a shop nearby. She said that he was crossing the road when a speeding truck hit him. She said that the truck driver also hit a scooterist while escaping but he was unhurt. After the incident, Vivek's family and local residents gathered at the accident site and staged a protest. They said that accidents frequently occur on this road but the administration has neither built speed breakers nor deployed traffic cops. The protest continued for over half an hour and ended after the police pacified them. Hours later, PAU police identified the accused driver as Beer Prakash alias Kaka, and arrested him. The mini truck was also seized by the police. ASI Kamaljeet Singh, investigating officer from PAU police station said that a case has been registered against the accused, who is in police custody. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Ramoowalia offers support to Ashu to ‘save Punjab from loot'
Times News Network Ludhiana: Former Union minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia announced his support to Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Friday. Ramoowalia reached the Congress election office with MLA Pargat Singh and said that his workers and supporters will campaign for Ashu from now. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Ramoowalia warned residents against and said that supporting Ashu would be first step in saving Punjab from loot. Assuring that his colleagues would ensure Congress's victory by campaigning for Ashu, he said that this would pave the way for completion of development work that remained incomplete during Ashu's tenure as MLA and minister. Addressing mediapersons, Ramoowalia accused Kejriwal of not giving representation to Punjabis in Punjab and Delhi. He said that appointment of "outsiders" at plum postings showed Kejriwal's selfishness and disgrace towards Punjabis. Ramoowalia also slammed Kejriwal for "injustice" with the former MLA Jarnail Singh, who died in 2021 and sought a judicial probe into his death. He also accused Kejriwal of pretending to be a common man for the sake of vested interests. The LBP leader also urged Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Parupkar Singh Ghumman to step back from the elections. He said, "I am an advocate also, so I want to advice advocate Ghumman to step back from elections instead of losing security deposit."
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Time of India
Discom employee arrested for stealing mortgaged car
Times News Network Khargone: An electricity distribution company employee was arrested on Thursday for stealing a mortgaged car using a duplicate key in Maheshwar. Maheshwar police station in-charge Jagdish Goyal told TOI that an employee of MP Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company, Jitendra, was arrested along with the stolen car. He said that a resident of Pardeshipura in Indore, Kishore Gehlod, had borrowed money from Golu Sharma of Indore. Unable to repay it, Kishore mortgaged his car to Golu who then began to rent it out. During this time, a Bhopal resident Ishwar rented this car to go to Maheshwar. When Ishwar parked the car in a hotel in Maheshwar, Kishore got to know about it and gave the vehicle's duplicate key to his brother-in-law, Jitendra alias Jeet. Jeet stole the car parked in front of the hotel and hid it in the grid of the electricity distribution company located in his hometown of Julwania in Barwani district. Acting on Ishwar's complaint, the police recovered the car parked in Julwania with the help of CCTV cameras and arrested Jeet. After stealing the car with the help of his brother-in-law, Kishore had informed Golu Sharma that his car was stolen and that he should retrieve it. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
