The decision was announced on Monday by primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar following the report of a technical committee which was constituted by the Chief Minister

BENGALURU: Less than a week after the higher education department opened colleges in Karnataka, the government decided to keep schools and pre university colleges closed in the state.

The decision was announced on Monday by primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar following the report of a technical committee which was constituted by the Chief Minister.

Kumar said apprehensions of a second wave of COVID-19 and the winter season being a major reason for the spread were among the committee’s reasons for keeping schools and PU colleges shut.

Addressing mediapersons, Kumar said there were contending perspectives during the discussions — one, that said schools should not open at all and another that highlighted the increase in social ills such as child labour and child marriage among government school children in rural areas.

“We will have to tackle social ills. Yet the technical advisory committee has given its decision and the most important aspect now is to save lives,” he added, saying the decisions were made keeping the welfare of children in mind.

The technical committee will convene in the third week of December to decide on a road ahead for the academic year, as the department is looking at a phased reopening first for older students — Class 8 and above.

Kumar said board students in Class 10 will have completed 100 percent of their syllabus in December — classes are taking place on state-run television channel Doordarshan Chandana.

There are 9,59,566 Class 10 students of the state, CBSE and ICSE boards and 5,70,126 pre university board students in the state.

Examination dates will be decided after another round of discussions among officials.

Principal Secretary of Department of Primary and Secondary Education Department SR Umashankar said besides the state’s initiatives of disseminating educational content on television, YouTube and (the now suspended) Vidyagama programme, private channels have also been approached.

Reliance’s Jio TV has come forward to freely broadcast educational content and a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed in this regard, he added.

BENGALURU: Congress leaders who had gathered at the KPCC office on Thursday to commemorate former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s 103rd birth anniversary, had something else on their minds — the upcoming bypolls to Basavakalyan and Maski assembly seats and Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency.

With the party having suffered a drubbing in the recent bypolls to RR Nagar and Sira, the talk among leaders gathered here clearly revolved around the bypoll dates. Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah were among those at the function.

The leaders are under pressure to perform because both Maski and Basavakalyan are Congress strongholds. While Maski is their home turf, where Prathapgouda Patil switched sides and joined the BJP as part of Operation Kamala, in Basavakalyan, it was the death of their MLA Narayana Rao that has necessitated a byelection. Whether the seats will remain with the party remains the big question.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah has already visited Basavakalyan to meet leaders there, and is expected to visit Maski next week. Former minister MB Patil has called for a meeting of Congress leaders in Belagavi on Saturday. KPCC president DK Shivakumar will visit Maski and Basavakalyan starting Sunday, and will meet party workers and leaders.

The Congress faces a few challenges in both constituencies — Lingayats number about 50,000-60,000, and since the community does not back the Congress, it is the party’s biggest worry. The reverses they faced in the recent bypolls in Karnataka and across the country, has made the party jittery about whom to field. The party is also under pressure in Belagavi, where they suspect it would be walkover for the BJP.

As Congress leaders huddled to introspect the loss of R R Nagar and Sira — party strongholds which the BJP picked up quite easily — the writing on the wall is not too encouraging. Yet, the Congress is determined not to give up without a fight.