Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 9: Kerala has sanctioned the setting up of 28 fast track courts for speedy trial in rape cases and other cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
State Social Justice and Women and Child Development Minister KK Shailaja said the state government has decided to set up POCSO courts to ensure that the culprits get the punishment they deserve. She said the decision has been taken in the wake of rising violence against women and children.
"The Union Law Ministry has recently sanctioned the opening of 28 POCSO fast track special courts in Kerala at the request of the state government. The project will be implemented jointly by the High Court, Law and Home Departments under the leadership of the Department of Women and Child Development," the Minister said.
The four courts are alloted in Thiruvananthapuram district, three in Thrissur and Malappuram districts, two each in Kollam, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur districts.
The Minister informed that POCSO courts are jointly established by the central and state governments and according to the High Court data, 12,234 POCSO and rape cases are pending in the state.
Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Wednesday played down reports about confusion regarding valuation of Second Pre- University and the Secondary School Leaving Certificate exam papers.
"Creating confusion has become a habit. There was confusion before the exam, during the exam and now confusion about the valuation of the exam papers," Kumar told reporters in Ramanagara when asked about the confusion over the valuation of answer sheets.
He had gone there to inspect a few centres where the SSLC or the 10th standard exams are underway.
The minister reminded people not to speak about the abilities of the students with contempt.
"Our students have toiled hard and are enthusiastically appearing for the examination. They are eligible for the marks they will score. So we should not speak about our children with disrespect," Kumar said.
The Education Minister said he had spoken to many leaders including former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy on conducting the examinations.
"Kumaraswamy had insisted on postponing the examination. I personally spoke to him and apprised him about the steps taken by us. I told him that we will work with more sincerity to ensure the safety of the children," Kumar said.
The SSLC exam was scheduled to take place from March 27 but due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, it was postponed.
While the CBSE and a few other states either decided to give marks based on the students' performance in the previous examinations such as quarterly and half-yearly exams or gave general promotion to the students, Karnataka went ahead to hold the exam.
According to Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board officials, around 8.5 lakh students have enrolled this year for the SSLC examination.
The exams are being held at 2,879 exam centres across the state.
Prior to the SSLC examination, the last exam of the Second PUC was also conducted on June 18, which was also put on hold due to the lockdown.
Bengaluru, May 27: Amid uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted school education in Karnataka, the state government is seeking the help of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to televise classes, a state minister said on Tuesday.
"We request you to provide minimum three channels on the Doordarshan network exclusively for the Department of Public Instruction, Government of Karnataka," Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar said in a letter to Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Suggesting co-branding the channels under DD and the state education department, he asked for the channels to be mandatorily transmitted by the cable and DTH operators under the Cable Act.
The state education department has already discussed with Prasar Bharti officials, who, according Kumar, have assured 3+3 hours of timeslots on the education channel Chandana on cost basis.
"We have also made all the necessary arrangements for content creation by the teachers," he said.
Meanwhile, the minister has revealed that television is the best medium for the students as a home learning mode in these challenging times.
"The department of public instruction reviewed various technological options and considered TV as one of the best means for home learning," Kumar said.
In a survey conducted by the education department, it was found out that 95 per cent households had television sets.
Kumar said the state operates government schools in nine languages, including Kannada, English and Urdu.
"To cater to all the students, and considering a long-term strategy to run schools by maintaining social distancing, we are in immediate need of minimum three exclusive channels to teach through TV," he said.
According to Kumar, the Karnataka government is facing hardships to meet the capital expenditure requirements, hence, it is seeking help from the I&B Ministry.
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We are already facing lot of problems here without food and money.
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