Teachers don't want to break rules & kits too!

BANGALORE: Picture this: a typical high school science class is in progress in interior Karnataka. The teacher strives hard to explain a physics concept, but by the looks of the students, much of it appears to be going over their heads. Nothing strange about this. Except, behind the teacher, in a cupboard, is a brand new science kit distributed by the state government a few years ago, which could enable students to understand science better. It is intact because the teacher and his colleagues are afraid to open it. Reason: a draconian rule that states the teachers will have to replace anything that is broken at their own expense. "Rather than paying for this from their meagre salaries, teachers took the easy way out — not open them at all. It is ironical that such rules were framed in the first place. I am now changing it because, ultimately, students who are losing out," science and technology minister Basavaraj S. Horatti said. At Rs 50,000 per kit, the government has been distributing between five and ten kits each year for close to a decade to highschools. Each kit contains laboratory equipment for basic experiments in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. "I stumbled on this during an inspection of a high school near Hubli. I was stunned by the explanation and asked my officials to investigate. We realised that except for a few schools which were 'brave' enough to use the equipment, a majority preferred to keep them locked up. The few that did open them, did not let students handle the equipment for fear of breakage," he said. He's told the schools to open them up and promised them that they would not be penalised. "A few did but many are still wary until the rule is either scrapped or a written direction goes out. Now we are in the process of amending the rules. New kits will be distributed only after the amendment," he stated. The minister said he also proposed to distribute the kits through the Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishat so that the onus of maintenance is not on the teachers. "We feel they will be better utilised," he stated.