Mysore/Mysuru: Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar today said that a decision on re-opening of Schools and Colleges and holding regular classes will be taken only after the State receives the Centre’s guidelines in this regard.

He was speaking to presspersons after the inaugural function of City Central Library at People’s Park here. 

Noting  that although the State Government has allowed re-opening of classes from 9 to 12 from Sept. 21, the Minister clarified that the students can go to their respective institutions only for seeking clarifications or sorting out confusions from their teachers regarding the lessons held through online classes in the past couple of months. 

Pointing out that it is mandatory for students to carry consent letters from their parents and also to follow all norms such as wearing of face mask, maintenance of physical distancing and use of hand sanitisers, Suresh Kumar said that regular classes will begin only after the Centre gives the go ahead and  issues corresponding  guidelines, for which the State Government is waiting.

Maintaining that Vidyagama and Sethu Bandha online education programmes  telecast through Doordarshan’s Chandana Channel have been a hit among students, Suresh Kumar said that some Private TV Channels too have evinced interest for telecasting the Government’s online classes and subsequently the Education Department has invited tenders for the same.

Replying to a query on charges of some private schools collecting exorbitant fees from parents even during Corona crisis, the Minister said that private educational institutions have been permitted to collect fee only for one term, based only on the previous academic year’s fee and not higher                                                                              than that. “The parents can immediately complain to the DDPI or the DDPUE if private institutions demand excessive fee. Also, schools are asked to complete fresh admission for standards first to tenth by Sept.30,” he said.

Replying to a question on complaints that several private schools have been refusing issuance of Transfer Certificates (TC) to students, Suresh Kumar said that the BEOs too have been entrusted with the powers to issue TCs and students who are in need of it, can approach their respective BEOs for getting the same, in cases where schools refuse.

Stating that nearly 10 lakh children get enrolled for schools every year in the State, the Minister said that it is happy to note that there is a turnaround in the mindset of the people with regard to Government schools. “Parents, who are very much impressed by Government’s educational initiatives such as Vidyagama and Sethu Bandhu, are now increasingly showing interest in admitting their wards to Government Schools,” he contended.