ANXIOUS DAYS AHEAD: Teachers and participants at the inauguration of a State-level convention of Karnataka State Private School Managements' Federation at Shikshakara Sadhana in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: A State-level convention of teachers and managements of private English-medium schools on Saturday warned the coalition Government not to play with children's education by withdrawing recognition to English-medium primary schools and urged it to reconsider the decision in the interest of the students and the public.

The Primary and Secondary Education Department has decided to derecognise all those schools that obtained permission to run as Kannada-medium schools but were teaching in English. A Cabinet sub-committee has been constituted to look into the issue. The Government decided to introduce English as a compulsory subject from class one in Kannada-medium schools from the coming academic year (2007).

The convention passed six resolutions and they included withdrawal of the order derecognising of schools, keeping abeyance of the order till the verdict of the Karnataka High Court, introduction of uniform education policy, compulsory teaching of Kannada in ICSE and CBSE schools, and introduction of English from class one in all Kannada-medium schools.

Speaking at the convention organised by the Karnataka State Private School Managements' Federation at the Shikshakara Sadana here, MLC Puttanna, who is the honorary president of the federation, said the closure of private English-medium primary schools established after 1994 will lead to uncertain future for over 15 lakh children and over a lakh teachers in 7,500 schools. Minister for Primary and Secondary Education should not consider the decision as his personal prestige, he said and urged him to extend recognition to all schools.

The Government had adopted a discriminatory policy for different private school managements. The Government had been regularising illegal constructions in the city by imposing fine on house owners. But what prevented the Government from extending recognition to schools by imposing fine, Mr. Puttanna asked.

The Government, which had no control over ICSE and CBSE schools, had been imposing Kannada as medium of instruction on private English-medium schools.

The imposition of Kannada as language of instruction at the primary level would cause a serious problem to schoolchildren.

The Government had no solution to tackle the problem, he said.

Prof. Rohidekar said the Government Order withdrawing recognition to schools had many flaws. Mr. Horatti had been consulting only writers and not education experts. There was no education expert in the Kumaraswamy Ministry. He urged the Government to set up a committee to look into the issue.

The Government's decision to withdraw recognition to schools was wrong and against the spirit of the Constitution.

The children of MLAs and MLCs studied in convent English-medium schools. Why should the parents send their wards to government schools, which had no teachers, he asked.

Cultural programmes from students of New Blossoms School, Srishaila Public School, and Indian Pubic School received a big applause.

Education expert Samira Simha, MLC Marithibbe Gowda, federation president M.A. Anand and over 4,000 teaching and non-teaching staff of private schools participated in the programme.

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