Opposing the government’s decision to entrust the supervision of the Deputy Directors of Pre-University Education (DDPU) to the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of zilla panchayats at the district level, government PU college principals, lecturers, and non-teaching staff unions have decided to boycott classes on December 1 and stage a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru.
The unions have also opposed the merger of PU examination board with the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) and termed the three annual examination system for PU students “unscientific”.
The Under Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy (Pre-University) issued a circular on October 18 to entrust the supervision of the DDPUs to the CEOs of zilla panchayats at the district level to efficiently manage the day-to-day work of the the DDPU offices. According to the circular, the supervision of the DDPUs of Kalaburagi and Dharwad zones will come under the Additional Commissioner of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) and the CEO of zilla panchayats concerned, while the Bengaluru and Mysuruy zones’ DDPUs will come under the zilla panchyats concerned.
“Earlier, the supervision of all the DDPUs came under the Director of the DSEL (Pre-University). Now, the government has entrusted the supervision of the DDPUs to the CEOs of ZPs and the Additional Commissioner of the department. It has created unnecessary pressure on the DDPUs. If there is any official meeting with the Director of the department, they should take permission from the ZP CEOs and the Additional Commissioner of the department. It is nothing but harassment and the government is planning to destroy the department. This may complicate the activities of the department and lead to delays,” said Ninge Gowda A.H., president of the Karnataka State Pre-University Colleges Lecturers’ Association.
“Despite opposition from principals and lecturers of government PU colleges, the government has forcibly merged the PU examination board with the KSEAB. In addition to this, the government has decided to conduct three annual examinations for PU students without consulting any principals, lecturers or experts. This is unscientific and illogical. It not only reduces the competitive spirit among students but also creates unnecessary pressure on the teaching faculty. Real evaluation is not possible with this system, which is harmful to talented students. This method gives quantitative results and not qualitative results. The lecturers have to engage in the examination and evaluation of the old students instead of lecturing the new students for a few months at the beginning of the academic year. Besides this, lecturers will have to miss the entire summer vacation,” he argued.
“The government is planning to merge the Pre-University Education Department with the DSEL in a phased manner. We opposed this, protested, and submitted a memorandum on November 23 in every district centre. But there is no positive response from the government. So, we have decided to boycott classes and stage a protest at Freedom Park on December 1. Around 6,000 PU college principals, lecturers, and non-teaching staff will participate,” Mr. Ninge Gowda said.
