Fifteen days on, Karnataka's Vidyagama classes log over 45% attendance in smaller districts, pittance in Bengaluru 

The Karnataka Government's Vidyagama programme has completed 15 days across Karnataka and the attendance seems to be increasing every day in different cities despite the fear of new COVID strain. Overall, the attendance went from 20.06 per cent on January 5 to 22.31 per cent on January 12 - showing a notable growth of 2.25 per cent. What is interesting is that attendance in rural areas is much higher than the attendance in Bengaluru. 

The Primary and Secondary Education Department had restarted this programme on January 1, 2021, amidst a lot of protest and trepidation from parents, teachers and various education experts. Since then, they have been diligently preparing reports on the number of students and the attendance percentage to ensure they have details of every student in case of infection. 

On January 5, the state recorded a total of 20.06 per cent of attendance for Vidyagama programme in which Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada Sirsi and Kodagu districts have recorded the highest percentage of 46.59, 42.89 and 41.78 respectively. However, districts like Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South, Bengaluru Rural, Bidar, Vijayapura and Yadgiri have recorded the lowest per cent of attendance. While Bengaluru South and Bidar have recorded only 8.17 per cent of attendance, Vijayapura and Yadgiri have recorded only 11.23 and 9.15 per cent only. Similarly Bengaluru North has recorded only 10.47 per cent and Rural 15.70 per cent of attendance.

On January 11, the attendance had increased marginally - by one per cent. The state recorded a total of 21.14 percentage in which again Dakshina Kannada recorded 46.92 per cent and Uttara Kannada Sirsi 42.49 per cent. Meanwhile, other cities including Davanagere recorded 30.15, Hassan 31.36, Kodagu 38.96 and Udupi 32.13 per cent indicating minimum attendance for these programmes at schools. 

On January 12, the attendance recorded was 22.31 per cent with Dakshina Kannada recording 46.82 per cent and Uttara Kannada Sirsi recording 45.32 per cent. The lowest per cent recorded on this day was in Bidar which was as low as 4.48 per cent, Yadgiri with 10.45 per cent and Bengaluru South recorded 12.06 per cent.