Private schools in Bengaluru with 0 % SSLC results face closure threat

BENGALURU: Government-run schools in the city may not have much to brag about when it comes to infrastructure, but not a single of them faces the closure threat like five private schools in Bengaluru for poor results in the SSLC exams.

A total of 36 schools have zero-per cent results in the 10th standard (SSLC) exams this year, of which seven are in Bengaluru.

Five of them ­ Emmanuel High School, Ramaswamypalya; Sri Manjunathaswamy High School, Nagashettyhalli; Sri Gururaja High School, Byrasandra; Wisdom High School, Goripalya and Rohini International Public High School, Nayandahalli ­ are likely to be closed down for not being able to get a single student passed in two consecutive academic years.

The Department of Public Instruction will initiate closure proceedings against unaided schools that have secured 0-40% results in the SSLC exams for more than once in the past five years.

"We advise parents not to admit students in these schools," commissioner for public instruction, Mohammad Mohsin, said. "These are schools that don't have good teachers, let alone a good student strength."

Chandra Shekhar, a representative of the 24-year old Sri Gururaja High School, blamed "nearby con vents" for eating into the school's admissions. "The problem is three years old when the school's building got into a litigation. We had only four students writing the SSLC exam this time. They are slum dwellers and do not know A-Z of English. We want to shift the school to another location where we hope things will improve," he said.

Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs) are to "get an explanation from these schools and withdraw recognition under Section 39 of the Karnataka Education Act," according to a circular that has been issued. When the schools are closed, students on the rolls will be shifted to nearby schools.

One school run by the municipal body ­ the Corporation Girls High School in Dayanandanagar ­ got zero-per cent result this time as well. "The three girls who wrote the exam have failed in science. I have sought the municipal administrator's approval to close the school and initiate action against the teachers," civic body education officer Hanumantha Raju said. "Perhaps, the girls are not interested in education," Raju said.

Closure of such schools is not the answer, according to Anitha BK, professor from the School of Social Sciences at National Institute of Advanced Studies."“With a huge proliferation of private institutions, we need to ask how such schools with zero results find their way . Even the government is responsible because education is a public responsibility ," she said.