Karnataka Social Welfare Minister Mahadevappa vows to upgrade government schools on par with private ones

Bengaluru: Buoyed by the tremendous performance of students of the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS) run schools in class 10 board examination, the state government has vowed to upgrade these schools on par with the sophisticated private schools.

Established to impart quality education to the economically and socially backward communities, these schools hogged the limelight on May 9 when the SSLC results were out and Ankita Basappa Konnur of the Morarji Desai Residential School at Mudhol in Bagalkote district emerged as a topper by securing 625 out of 625 marks.

Ankita is the only student to get cent per cent marks in all subjects this year.

She belongs to a humble background as her father Basappa Konnur is a farmer and his mother is a homemaker who assists her husband often in the farm.

''As part of the continuation of this magnanimous performance of social welfare department schools, I have decided to make sure that all our government schools are upgraded on par with the most sophisticated ones,'' state Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa told PTI.

According to official sources, there are 833 residential schools in Karnataka named after Morarji Desai, Kittur Rani Chennamma, B R Ambedkar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Masti Venkatesh Ayyangar and Ekalavya.

The KREIS also manages pre-university colleges.

The state government aims at scientific and intellectual enhancement of students' knowledge and mindset.

A majority of students in social welfare department residential schools hail from a humble background, he explained.

''It is imperative to think of a state-of-the-art infrastructure for an advanced education system. Our government is all committed to making the dreams of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar a reality by establishing a rational society backed by an intellectually and socially awakened mass of people.''

On the KREIS schools, he said there will be free and direct admission to the students from the most underprivileged sections such as rag pickers, ex-manual scavengers, graveyard labourers, children who are rescued from child labour, bonded labour, and orphan children.

Mahadevappa also shared the data on the performance of six types of government schools run by the social welfare departments.

While the overall percentage of pass students in the Karnataka SSLC examination was 73.4, government-run residential schools got 96 per cent.

The overall percentage of students who scored Grade A marks ranging between 90 to 100 per cent was 5.58 per cent. But, the residential school students who made it to Grade A was 9.22 per cent.

There was a very small number of students who fared poorly in the SSLC exam this year.

Out of 798 government residential schools, 358 registered 100 per cent pass results, the minister noted.