'Act against violence on girls in schools'

Bangalore: On the occasion of International Women's Day, Minister for Energy, Food and Supplies Shobha Karandlaje condemned teachers' misbehaviour towards girls in schools.

She urged the Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri to take stringent action to prevent victimisation of girls in schools.

Speaking at a function organised by Karnataka State Primary School Teachers' Association, she opined that women undergo three kinds of cruelty in an organisation. Shobha said, "Firstly, from higher officials, second from colleagues. The one that worries me most is violence by teachers on girls in schools. I will speak to the minister and urge him to take action in this regard."

"How can people have perverted feelings towards children? I have personally witnessed instances of wrong touch, unnecessary summons to offices and indecent language," she said.

Earlier, Minister Kageri urged primary school teachers to continue their commendable work.

"Male primary teachers constitute only 40 per cent. The female teachers are assets to the state and I am proud to have you are all in my department," he observed.

No Nali-Kali for Classes 3 and 4?: With the state government looking at extending Nali-Kali (joyful learning) programme to classes 3 and 4, the primary school teachers from across the state called upon Kageri to restrict the programme to standard 1 and 2.

"I have received suggestions to extend Nali-Kali up to class 4. I know that the programme is successful among classes 1 and 2. I will not allow the extension if teachers do not want it," Kageri told teachers.

He remained non-committal on whether the Nali-Kali would be extended or not. In Nali-Kali, learning takes place systematically in groups organised according to age wise competencies in an interactive manner, with lessons taught through activities.

Only one teacher is appointed for Nali-Kali.

"With the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) set as 1:30, a single teacher has to manage 30 students in a class. Right now, we combine classes 1 and 2 for Nali-Kali. However, if classes 3 and 4 are included, it will be difficult for the same teacher to handle the increase in the number of students," a teacher told Express.