With the state government planning to begin around 1,000 Karnataka Public Schools, as announced in the budget, in the academic year 2019-20, Hassan district has got approval for 29 such schools.
Karnataka Public School is a concept of the state government to reduce the number of dropouts from primary school to high school. The students will join school at LKG, the entry point, and will study till class 12 on a single campus.
The classes will begin on June 1 and English teaching faculty are provided training by the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET). Out of seven Assembly constituencies, six taluks have got approval for four schools each, while Sakleshpur-Alur Assembly constituency will get five schools, according to sources.
The English medium classes will begin from Class 1 in the existing 12 Karnataka Public Schools and the remaining 17 schools, with more than 150 students, have been identified. The English medium classes will be started at government primary schools in the hobli headquarters or in a big village. They will have both English and Kannada medium classes.
Separate guidelines
While announcing the concept, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had told that there would be separate guidelines for these schools and they would be based on the Kendriya Vidyalaya model. The Department of Primary and Secondary Education hopes that once it is implemented, there will be a huge spike in the enrollment in government schools. It will benefit students from economically weaker sections.
Speaking to DH, Deputy Director for Public Instructions Manjunath said that selected teachers are being given a 15-day training in English at Krishika Bhavan in Hassan.
"One teacher from each school has been selected and coached by the Regional Institute of English. DIET Director Puttaraju is given the responsibility. A nodal officer will manage each school," he added.
The classes will start from June and the parents can admit their children. The textbooks are also ready. If there is good response, there is a possibility of increasing the number of schools, he added.