Students in government schools and pre-university colleges who are finding it difficult to cope with the academic curriculum, will get additional support during their summer break. Starting 2016-17, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education will conduct supplementary classes during the vacation in a bid to improve their performance.
“These classes will be conducted to help students who do not achieve age and grade specific competencies,” said a department official. “At a later stage, teachers will be asked to take extra classes during school days.”
Highlighting poor learning outcomes in schools in rural Karnataka, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2014 report had pointed out that that 46.2 per cent of class one students could not even read a letter while 37 percent of class eight students could not solve division problems.
Most of these students come from poorer socio-economic sections of society and do not have the relevant infrastructure in their homes.
“Many of the students studying in government schools and PU colleges are first-generation learners, who may not be able to get any help from their parents. Our aim is to bring the scores of such students on a par with their peers,” Basavaraj Gurikar, State president of Karnataka State Primary School Teachers' Association, said.
Dasara coaching
Classes for pre-university students and class five students will be conducted on a pilot basis at the taluk level during the Dasara vacation. Ajay Seth, Principal Secretary, Department of Primary and Secondary Education, said that classes would be conducted for 12 days for students belonging to Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe.
“For PU students, we plan to offer coaching in economics, accountancy, English, physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics, as we found that the learning curve in these subjects for these students is a matter of concern. These classes are optional,” he said.
Class five students in Ramanagar, Mandya and Mysuru districts will be coached in basic literacy for mathematics and language skills (Kannada).
These classes will be conducted to help students who do not achieve age- and grade-specificcompetencies.
an official of Primary andSecondary Education Dept.
