While the CJP Karnataka team has been visiting schools for about a month, CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka and CJP national secretary Afreen Nawaz, along with the team, visited four government schools in Bengaluru in the last few days.
The team, after interacting with students, staff and teachers at government schools in J.P. Nagar, Marathahalli, Yeshwantpur and Government Urdu School, Varthur, flagged a shortage of teachers due to SIR duties, unhygienic toilets, and a lack of infrastructure as some of the main issues.
Teachers away
According to Mr. Ranka, eight of nine teachers in the Sarjapur school were assigned SIR duties, and three of four teachers at the Marathahalli school were on SIR duty.“A teacher’s time is precious, and five months of a calendar year are being wasted. The Election Commission should come up with an alternative plan,” Mr. Ranka criticised.
Hygiene and infrastructure
At the school in Marathahalli, the team noted that toilet hygiene was a major concern. At the J.P. Nagar school, while infrastructure was generally good, washroom conditions needed attention, they said.“The school administration has reported a lack of budget for cleaning staff. The cleaning staff comes only once a week,” Mr. Ranka said.
He noted that the infrastructure at the Varthur school was severely dilapidated. “Around 150 children are studying in two classrooms. In one of the rooms, the ceiling was found to be on the verge of falling. Repair work began after our intervention,” he said.
Ms. Nawaz said that during their outreach on social media, youth from the State also reported Karnataka Public Service Commission recruitment issues as a major problem. The team called out to the public to join hands with them and to report schools in their locality that need attention.
The delegation raised their findings in a meeting with Karnataka Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa.