Karnataka's Education Reforms Adviser express dismay over elected officials not adopting gov't schools 

On Friday, January 27, Prof MR Doreswamy, Adviser for Education Reforms for the Karnataka government, expressed his displeasure over elected representatives' failures to adopt government schools in the state.

During a press conference in Mangaluru, Doreswamy stated that although the state has 225 MLAs, only 10% of them (less than 20 MLAs) have adopted a few government schools. Doreswamy responded that he was not aware when asked if Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had adopted any schools in his district.

Doreswamy clarified that former CM BS Yediyurappa had developed many schools in his constituency. "New dimensions were added to the state policy on the development of government schools based on his recommendations to the government and it was included in the 2020-21 budget according to which, MLAs, MLCs and MPs are supposed to adopt three to five government schools. The voters must question their elected representatives about why they have failed to adopt schools. As per my knowledge, K Gopalaiah, Minister of Excise has adopted 11 schools in his constituency at a cost of Rs 45 crore using government and CSR funds while MLA Ramalinga Reddy has developed 23 schools using CSR funds. MLA RV Deshpande has adopted all government schools in his constituency," he said, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.

The adviser continued by saying that universities and colleges are also a part of the Adoption for Development programme. St Aloysius College has adopted five schools, while Mangalore University, SDM College and Srinivas University have each adopted ten.

Additionally, he stated that eight government schools that Jnanpith Award-winning Kannada authors had attended had received Rs 16 crore in funding as a result of his recommendations. Doreswamy further said that the situation and facilities in government schools is deplorable. "There are 48,000 government primary schools but 40% of these government schools where poor children study lack basic facilities such as drinking water, toilets, furniture and compound walls. Government schools have no proper computer education or library facilities. In the next budget, the government should allocate Rs 10,000 crore for government school upgradation," he urged, stated The New Indian Express report.