K’taka temporarily suspends Vidyagama scheme after reports of Covid deaths among schoolchildren
Bengaluru: After an intense debate between the ruling party and opposition parties – Congress and JD(S) — over continuation of the Vidyagama scheme, Karnataka Primary and Secondary education minister S. Suresh Kumar on Saturday asserted that the state government had decided to suspend the scheme for the time being.
Conveying this through Facebook, Sureshkumar said, “This scheme was primarily intended to help poor school children who could neither afford internet connection nor had the wherewithal to attend the on-line classes. Hence, the state government had asked teachers to conduct classes in the open courtyard of the schools/temples or wherever it was possible but the number was restricted anywhere between 15-20 students,” he explained.
He argued that Vidyagama was a scientifically evolved scheme and it was done after due consultations and as many as 47 lakh children were direct beneficiaries of this scheme.
The minister further added that the state government would gather all the information about the deaths of schoolchildren and teachers, who are said to have died after the Vidyagama scheme, was launched. “We will delve deep into this matter and investigate the real causes for students and teachers death,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah and JD(S) leader, H. D. Kumarswamy launched a scathing attack on the Karnataka government after a section of media published reports suggesting that as many as 34 students died due to Covid, after Vidyagama was launched.
This media report went viral and became a hot topic for discussion across the state, although Sureshkumar had tried his best to allay fears about such deaths stating that it was not good for anyone to link children’s deaths with Vidyagama.
This had evoked sharp reaction from the opposition, challenging the state government to prove that such deaths did not occur after the Vidyagama scheme was launched.