Initiative on universal primary education

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JUNE 12. A joint initiative aimed at the universalisation of primary education has been launched by the State Government and the Azim Premji Foundation.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) giving effect to the initiative was signed at a simple function here today. The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, signed the MoU on behalf of the State Government, while the Wipro Chairman, Mr. Azim Premji, signed on behalf of the foundation. The initiative will ensure that every child in the State goes to school.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Premji said the State had 1.2 million children who were not going to school at present. There were 59 million such children in the country, he said and expressed happiness that the State Government had taken the lead in accomplishing this enormous task of ensuring primary education for all.

The thrust would be on the mobilisation of communities in villages identified under the initiative. The foundation had already begun collaborating with the Government in implementing the initiative in 1,300 villages in Kolar and Mandya districts. The scheme to ensure universal primary education would be launched in seven districts of northern Karnataka which accounted for more than 60 per cent of the children not going to school, Mr. Premji said.

Replying to a question from presspersons later, he said the foundation would monitor the result of the initiative launched in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and the State before it decided on expanding it to other States.

Regarding the funds involved, Mr. Premji said the objective was to supplement the efforts of the Government and not to serve as a substitute. However, funds would not prove to be a constraint, he added.

Mr. Krishna lauded the initiative as an epoch-making one in bringing about a qualitative change in primary education, and said right from the first day in office he had identified primary education and primary health as areas where the Government would be pro-active. The Government was willing to bring about a private-public partnership initiative to ensure that the needs of the people were met.

Keeping this in mind, he had suggested a 15 per cent cut in the allocation of funds for higher education which, in turn, could be exclusively devoted to improving and expanding primary education. Though the proposal had run into rough whether and had attracted plenty of criticism, the Government would stick to its commitment.

Mr. Krishna said the Government was committed to making the initiative a big success so that this would be a trend-setter for other initiatives by the private sector in collaboration with the Government.

The Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Mr. H. Vishwanath, hailed the new initiative for the universalisation of primary education.

Earlier, Mr. T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar, Commissioner for Public Instruction, welcoming the chief guests, explained the work that was being already done under the initiative in three blocks of Kolar taluk and Maddur taluk of Mandya District.

Under the MoU, the Government is committed to providing the infrastructure and teachers required within a mutually agreed time-frame, while the foundation will focus on the mobilisation of communities in the geographical areas identified under the initiative. The Government has already assigned a senior official of the Education Department to work on deputation with the foundation on the initiative.

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Section  : Southern States
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