Karnataka - Raichur   

Residents of border villages seek admission to colleges in State

Towards an understanding:Officials from the Education Department of Andhra Pradesh talking to residents of Krishna on Thursday.

Raichur: Kannada-medium schools on the Andhra Pradesh border, including in Krishna and 12 other villages of Makhtal taluk, have been closed since Tuesday following protests by residents. They are demanding that the Karnataka Government come out with a gazette notification facilitating admission of students in border villages studying in Kannada medium to pre-university and professional courses in government institutions.

According to the residents, Kannada-medium primary and higher primary government schools have been functioning in the border villages of Andhra Pradesh for the last four decades. These students, however, after finishing Class X find it difficult to get into government PU and professional courses in Karnataka.

Benefits denied

The students, they claimed, were denied benefits under the border area quota while seeking admission for higher education as, so far, the State Government has not issued any direction to the institutions concerned in this regard. Agitations in the past in this regard have been in vain, they claimed.

The Government and the authorities concerned had promised to protect their interests by coming out with a gazette notification facilitating admission of students in border villages to government institutions in the State for higher studies. The closure of Kannada-medium schools in the border villages prompted the Andhra Pradesh Government to send a team of officials to Krishna to review the situation and take action to settle the problems faced by Kannadigas there.

The officials suggested that the residents allow their children to study in Kannada-medium school till sixth standard after which they could move to a Telugu-medium school. Although there was some opposition to this, a majority of the villages accepted the suggestion.

The schools will start functioning from Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner V. Anbukkumar discussed the matter over the phone with Minister for Kannada and Culture Govind Karjol. It is said that the Minister has asked the district administration to submit a detailed report on the situation.

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Residents of border villages seek admission to colleges in State

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