KARNATAKA

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation(KSRTC) has so far received 257 Awards, the highest among state transport undertakings (STUs) in the country.

The awards have been conferred for reasons like maximum improvement in mileage, minimum operational costs, oil conservation, road safety, lowest accident rate, Intelligent Transport System, vehicle-tracking system and low-floor buses.

While public transport is not meant to be profitable, the government is responsible for supporting STUs in terms of carbon credits they accrue, by reducing the number of private vehicles. Fewer private vehicles on roads translates into less traffic, pollution and accidents.

Keeping up with the times, government school children of classes 8 and 9 in Karnataka will get a chance to learn coding. Thanks to a memorandum signed by Samagra Shikshana Karnataka (SSK) and British Council, children at 100 schools will be taught coding skills to begin with.
Under the pilot project, 200 teachers from 100 schools will be trained in TEACHING digital and coding skills using physical Micro:bit, a pocket-sized computer. The teachers, in turn, will train around 3,500 students this academic year.

The teachers will receive a three-day face-to-face training that will be delivered by British Council trainers using material provided by Micro:bit Foundation, a non-profit organisation.

As per the Unified District Information System of Education for 2021-22, around 81% of schools in the state have computer facility. But less than 7% of government schools in the state have a functional ICT (Information and Communication Technology) lab.

The Education department has intensified its survey of out-of-school children and those hwo were never enrolled across the state.

The department has found that 64,003 children were out of school for the 202223 academic year. For this reason, the department decided to conduct an extensive survey till January 5.

All steps will be taken regarding activities to be carried out in the district, taluk cluster, school, and residential areas for children to get enrolled.

The district has found 375 children who never joined any school and 216 children who took transfer certificates before COVID-19 and did not get admission in any school in the district. The department has formed teams to find out about these children.

According to the SATS statistics, more children were found to be out of school.

The state education department will get a clearer picture about the children, said Samagar Shikshan Karnataka assistant project coordinator and nodal officer Prakash Bhutali.

Guest lecturers, who have been saddled with 15 hours of work, instead of the earlier eight hours, are upset over the states new policy. More importantly, they say half of the guest lecturers TEACHING in undergraduate or postgraduate colleges across the state, will lose their jobs.

The has decided to increase the monthly honorarium to Rs 26,000 to 28,000 from Rs 11,000 for guest lecturers. Those candidates who have cleared UGC-NET or completed their PhD, will be paid Rs 30,000 to Rs 32,000 (Rs 13,000 earlier salary).Karnatakahas around 14,000 guest faculty.

The Education department has intensified its survey of out-of-school children and those hwo were never enrolled across the state.

The department has found that 64,003 children were out of school for the 202223 academic year.

All steps will be taken regarding activities to be carried out in the district, taluk cluster, school, and residential areas for children to get enrolled.

According to the SATS statistics, more children were found to be out of school.

Karnataka achieved a vaccination milestone with 50% of its targeted Population fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Of the nearly 4.9 crore persons aged 18 years and above and identified as eligible, nearly 2.5 crore persons have been given both doses.

The highest second-dose coverage is reported from Bengaluru Urban district at 77%, followed byKodaguat 60% and BBMP at 59%.

The Health department has instructed district-level authorities to engage with prominent doctors, religious leaders, Sports personalities and elected representatives during the campaign.

The number of beneficiaries of GramaOne, theflagship programmeofKarnataka governmentthat delivers citizen Services at the doorsteps of villagers, has crossed the one-crore mark.

The milestone has been recorded within ten months of the launch of programme, which was intended to help rural residents in availing of multiple government services without having to travel long distances to visit the district headquarters, taluk office and hobli centres to get their official work done. Currently, about 800 services including G2C (government to citizens), B2C (business to citizens),Banking services, and RTI (Right To Information) queries are being delivered through the 7,112 GramaOne centres across the state.

Former Karnataka chief ministerSiddaramaiah said BJP leader Rama Jois filed a in theSupreme Courtchallenging reservation to backward classes, dalits and Women in local bodies. RSS leaders are against reservation and their hidden agenda is to change the Indian Constitution.

Siddaramaiah said the Central and state governments must conduct a caste census to ensure government facilities to people.

Government schools inKarnatakaare short of 17,258 rooms, the legislative assembly was informed last week. The rooms includes separate chambers for teachers and headmasters and offices as mandated by the Right to Education (RTE) rules.

Replying to an unstarred question seeking details of classroom shortage on July 6, school education and Literacy ministerMadhuBangarappa said there is a requirement of over 17,000 rooms and to make up, under Viveka Yojane, 6,601 classrooms were sanctioned in schools in 2022-23. While the required fund for the project was Rs 943 crore, Rs 469 crore was released last year. This year, Rs 30 crore has been released as the first instalment.

Additionally, he said, Rs 48 crore was released for repairing 1,878 schoolrooms last academic year. In yet another project, under the Samagra Shikshana Karnataka plan, Rs 50 crore has been released for building 274 classrooms and toilets at 39 Karnataka Public Schools. Gram panchayats have been given the freedom to use funds under theMahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Actto build and maintain classrooms.

As per the data, Chitradurga needs 1,664 classrooms the biggest requirement among all educational districts. Vijayanagara needs 1,159 rooms, Davanagere 1,160, Vijayapura 1,144 rooms, Kalaburagi 1,025 and Raichur 1,023. Belagavi (574) and Belagavi Chikkodi (500) are the other educational districts with much shortage. Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru North need 200 rooms.