Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has decided to extend holidays for all government and aided schools until October 18 to complete the ongoing caste
survey in the state. The mid-term break has extended to help officials complete the ongoing Socioeconomic and Educational Survey being conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. The decision was taken Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah held a meeting to check the status of the ongoing survey.
The caste survey started on September 22 and was supposed to end by October 7. However, no district has been able to finish the full door-to-door data collection and needs more time now. At a press conference, the CM said that the Karnataka State Primary School Teachers’ Association had asked for more time to finish the survey. Hence, the government has decided to keep all government and aided schools in the state closed until October 18.
Progress not as expected: CM
Siddaramaiah also said that while some districts like Koppal have completed about 97% of the survey, other districts like Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are still far behind with only 63% and 60% work done. He also explained that the survey started slowly due to many problems, especially technical ones, but it is now being carried out in full force.
The CM added that the teachers in pre-university colleges will not have to take part in the survey since their midterm exams begin on October 12.
In Bengaluru, the survey progress has been especially slow. Data collection there began only on October 3. Officials and teachers have promised to finish by October 19, just before Deepavali. Bengaluru has 46 lakh households, and 21,000 people, including 6,700 teachers, are working on the survey.
Special classes later to finish syllabus
Even though a few districts might complete the survey early, the holidays will stay the same across the entire state. To make up for the loss, special classes will be held once schools reopen. Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said that schools might extend daily classes by an hour to complete the syllabus. This decision will be finalised later at the district level.
Earlier this week, the government had already extended the survey deadline to October 12 due to delays and slow progress in some areas. In Greater Bengaluru, where the survey began even later, the deadline has been pushed to October 24.
