Play on Mother Teresa staged

Bengaluru, Jul 8: The expert committee constituted by the Karnataka government to look into imparting online education in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown submitted its report on Tuesday to the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, S Suresh Kumar.

Amid growing pressure by educational institutions to allow them to run online classes for the students, the government set up the committee headed by noted educationist M K Sridhar.

The Minister told reporters that some schools wanted to run online classes, including for LKG and UKG students. It had also come to the government's notice that schools were reportedly charging hefty fees in the name of online teaching, he added.

"To address the concerns of parents, schools, and the future of the children, the committee was formed,"Kumar said. He further said that the government would study the recommendations and hold discussions with officials and various stakeholders before arriving at a decision.

The Education Department said that the committee, in its report, titled "Continuation of Learning in School Education of Karnataka: Guidelines During COVID-19 Pandemic for Technology Enabled Education and Beyond", has recommended teaching online or by using printed material. The committee suggested that children in the age group of three to six be taught online by way of story-telling, rhymes and games strictly in the presence of parents thrice a week just for one session a day For students from class one to three, it advised two periods a day and three days a week for online teaching.

Students from class three to five would have classes five days a week and two classes for 30 minutes a day. For students from class six to eight, there could be three classes a day for a duration of 30 minutes to 45 minutes each, while for students of class nine and 10 there would be four sessions a day between 30 and 45 minutes each.

The committee also suggested usage of Doordarshan and Akashwani for the government school children. Suresh Kumar said there were a few petitions filed in the Karnataka High Court regarding online teaching to the children.

Mangaluru, Apr 29: One person was arrested on charges of murdering a middle-aged couple on Wednesday in Yellinje near Kinnigoli.

The area falls under the jurisdiction of Mulky police.

Police said that the deceased were identified as Vincent D’Souza (50) and his wife Helina D’ Souza (45).

The arrested was identified as Alphonso (55). He will be sent to judicial custody, said police.

Newsroom, May 26: A migrant worker died of hunger while a 10-month-old boy suffering from fever and breathing difficulties died negligence in two separate incidents onboard Shramik Special trains in Uttar Pradesh.

The 46-year-old dead migrant worker’s nephew, who was accompanying him, said that the victim had not eaten anything in the last 60 hours.

Raveesh Yadav said that no food or water was provided on the train, which they had boarded from Mumbai to travel to their native place in Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav and his uncle were working as construction workers in Mumbai.

Yadav told the paper that the train had left the Lokmanya Terminal in Mumbai, at 7pm on May 20 and arrived at its final stop, Varanasi Cantonment station, at 7.30am on May 23.

“But my uncle, who was complaining of hunger and pain all over his body, fainted half an hour before we reached Varanasi Cantonment and died within a few minutes,” Raveesh was quoted as saying.

He added that he and his uncle were hungry when they boarded the train but could not find food or water to buy.

Railways’ apathy

Meanwhile, the family of 10 month old child, who died in the train, alleged that the railways did not arrange for a doctor despite their repeated pleas.

The railway doctors had been moved to Covid-19 hospitals and by the time a doctor was provided at Tundla railway station, it was too late, the report quoted the child's grandfather, Dev Lal, as saying.

Lal said that the family members had tried to speak to the GRP at many stations, including at Aligarh, where the train had halted. "But they showed no interest and said any help would be available only in Tundla,” Lal said.

Railways officials then took the kin to a quarantine centre in Tundla, as they suspected that the baby had died because of the novel coronavirus.  It was only on Monday that the incident came to light when another individual at the quarantine facility intimated journalists after the condition of the child's mother worsened.

Last November, the mother of the child, Priyanka Devi of Bihar's Notan village in West Champaran, had gone to visit her parents who reside in Noida with the baby, who was then just four months old. Her husband Pramod Kumar is a farmer, the report added.