The Karnataka government is planning to transfer 26 programmes currently vested with the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department (RDPR).
These programmes include identifying out-of-school children, maintenance of teachers’ attendance, appointment of guest teachers and midday meal workers, distribution of shoes and socks, and infrastructure development to name a few.
In three tiers
According to the proposal, all the programmes will be distributed between Gram Panchayats, Taluk Panchayats and Zilla Panchayats. This, the government says, is part of the effort at decentralising power and making education more vibrant from the gram panchayat level. Based on the proposal submitted by the RDPR, the DSEL has held a few meetings with officials in this regard.
However, various teachers’ associations have opposed this and they allege that the local bodies may harass teachers and staff in the name of decentralization of programmes and they may face political pressure. The Karnataka State Primary School Teachers’ Association has submitted a proposal to the Principal Secretary of the DSEL and requested that programmes not be transferred to RDPR.
Speaking with The Hindu, Chandrashekara Nuggali, general secretary of the association, said, “It is unscientific that DSEL wants to transfer some of its programmes to RDPR and it will affect teachers. It will lead to political intervention in the schools at panchyat levels. Government school teachers should not be harassed in the name decentralization of programmes. Therefore, the government should reject the proposal RDPR.”
Final yet to be taken
Ritesh Kumar Singh, Principle Secretary, of DSEL, said that the proposal is currently at the level of discussion. “The Education Department activities come under the control of Zilla Panchayats at the district level. But discussions are on as to whether those programmes which come under Zilla Panchayat should be given to the control of Gram Panchayats. But, a final call has not been taken yet,” he said.
