Bengaluru: The State Government has decided to consult senior bureaucrats, who had served the Education Department in the past while taking a decision on the Expert Committee Report on online teaching.

The report submitted by the Committee consisting of 14 experts is yet to be considered by the Department. Several Child Rights activists, organisations working for Child Rights and even Parents’ Associations have raised objections to the recommendations in the report.

Following the objections, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar said that the Government will consult IAS Officers, who have worked with the Department in the past and discuss the report with them.

Answering to queries during a phone-in programme on a TV channel, Suresh Kumar said, “The Government has not accepted the report yet. We have received the report and will discuss the same with IAS Officers who were with the Department earlier.”

This list of IAS Officers include senior officers like the present Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, V.P. Baligar, G. Kumar Naik and some retired officers who served as Secretaries and Commissioners.

The Minister promised to consult Teachers’ Associations before taking a decision on the report.

Happy with the Expert Committee Report, the Private School Managements have requested the Primary Education Department to constitute a regulatory authority to monitor the implementation of the same.

“Whatever the Committee recommended is perfect and in the interest of students. Now, the challenge before the Government is to implement the same and monitor it. Unless there is a regulatory mechanism in place, the recommendations of the report will go in vain,” said D. Shashi Kumar, General Secretary of Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka.