Bengaluru : . Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that children should get quality education in government schools. There should be development of knowledge, rationality and scientific temperament.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Our School Our Responsibility’ a programme for Development and Strengthening of Government Schools at his Home Office Krishna today organized by the district administration and Zilla Panchayat, Mysore

The children said the Preamble to the Constitution

The Chief Minister interacted with the children of Siddaramanahundi and Kuppegala Government School who had arrived at Home Office Krishna.

When the Chief Minister asked the children to speak about the Constitution, the children said the preamble of the Constitution. The CM advised the children that mere memorizing is not enough but have to understand its core and act accordingly. Liberty, equality, fraternity are the core of the constitution. An egalitarian society should be built. Even though Buddha, Basava, Ambedkar have said this, inequality is not gone completely. Children should study and understand these thoughts and develop humanity, CM advised.

The Chief Minister said that, some innovative programs have been implemented in government schools. Government is providing free education for the development of schools. After the Constitution came into force, free education was made a fundamental right. Therefore education is compulsory for all , he explained to the children.

The CM enquired that, whether eggs and milk were being given in schools and how many days in a week they were being given. The children replied that it’s being given thrice in a week.

We didn’t have the facilities you have

The Chief Minister recalled that “When I was studying, the constitution had come into force. I was born before independence. Nanje Gowda taught me to to read, write and calculate in Kannada. After leaving school, a master named Rajappa came to my house and admitted me directly to class V. I was going to Kuppegala to study 8th standard. The CM also said that he joined Vidyavardhaka School for high school and he had no facility like the children he said.

He recalled that his date of birth was entered as 3-8-1947 in the school records.

The Chief Minister said that now the government school students get milk, eggs, chikki, meals, uniforms. He recalled that “we used to get beaten by our teachers at our times and girls did not study much. I still haven’t forgotten the Kannada grammar that Ishwarachar taught me.

On the same occasion, the Chief Minister donated 10 lakhs to the upgraded Government Senior Primary School, Kuppegala and K.P.S. Siddaramahundi .

Primary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that Rs 6 crore was donated by the old students of the school. In Malur too, six crore rupees have been collected by the old students. People who are socially concerned have also taught children. 14000 WhatsApp groups are there among 48000 government schools . We have a big target for the development of government schools. 44 thousand crores have been earmarked for the development of government schools. Other development works have also been carried out through CSR funds.

Primary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, Industries Minister M. B. Patil, Revenue Minister Krishnabairegowda, Higher Education Minister Sudhakar, Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goyal, Development Commissioner and Deputy Chief Secretary Dr. Shalini Rajneesh were present on this occasion.