Bengaluru: Dwindling number of students in government run schools due to various reasons including confusion surrounding the quality of education imparted and medium of instruction has forced the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to opt for school merger process.

Under this process, schools with low enrollment have been merged with the nearest school which has more enrollments. This trend has now sent shock waves among the teachers fraternity who now wants the state government to implement various corrective measures.

One of those corrective measures suggested by the Karnataka State Primary Teachers Association to the state government is introduction of LKG and UKG in all the government schools to attract the toddlers. On Tuesday, a delegation of teachers association met primary and secondary education minister Tanveer Sait demanding immediate launch of LKG and UKG at the government schools.

According to the officials from DPI, teachers association office bearers assume that once LKG and UKG classes are introduced in government schools, parents who want English education for their kids would automatically prefer government schools due to various reasons including no fee, quality infrastructure etc. “Several school development and monitoring committees (SDMCs) have already launched LKG and UKG classes on their own in the schools to retain the school student strength. But it is not the case in majority of schools. So teachers want government assistance and order in this regard,” he explained.