In a scathing evaluation of the education sector in Karnataka, Bahutva Karnataka, a forum for justice, harmony, and solidarity, has released the first in a series of report cards, giving the incumbent government a failing grade of ‘E’. The report, released on Wednesday, April 12, highlights the government's failure to meet its stated goals and the constitutional vision of education as a fundamental right.
According to the report, learning levels in the state have seen a drastic decline, with only 8.6% of Class 3 students able to read Class 2 level texts, compared to 19.3% in 2018, as per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). Educationist VP Niranjanaradhya said, "The closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the poorly planned and implemented National Education Policy (NEP) program, has caused significant education deprivation for students, especially those in government schools and poor private schools who could not access online education or have meaningful home support."
Niranjanaradhya further said, "This has led to an 'education emergency' that requires urgent attention and increased education budgets to address the deprivation, fill teacher vacancies, recruit additional teachers, provide learning resources, and support community-level learning." The report also noted that there have been no significant increases in education budgets, which will further worsen the falling learning levels and school dropout rates.
The report also highlighted the communalisation of education in Karnataka, with a sudden ban on hijab in government pre-university colleges. These actions have led to the communalisation of educational institutes, denial of education to students, and caused violence across the state, the report stated.