Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jul 5: Karnataka State SDMC Coordination Centre Forum (Regd.) state convenor Moidin Kutty has urged the state government to review the revised school timings in Dakshina Kannada, stating that students in the district stand to lose nearly 44 hours of learning annually due to a daily reduction of 15 minutes in instructional time.

In a statement, Moidin Kutty said the Department of School Education and Literacy has introduced uniform school timings across Karnataka, fixing school hours from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm from Monday to Friday and from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm on Saturdays.

However, the Dakshina Kannada School Education Department has scheduled classes from 9.45 am to 4.30 pm on weekdays, effectively reducing instructional time by 15 minutes each day. Though Saturday school hours remain four hours, the cumulative reduction during weekdays would result in students losing more than 40 hours of classroom learning in an academic year, estimated at around 44 hours.

He contended that while the state government has implemented uniform school timings across Karnataka, reducing instructional hours at the district level goes against the spirit of the policy.

Moidin Kutty further pointed out that schools in Dakshina Kannada frequently remain closed due to heavy rainfall, resulting in additional loss of teaching days every year. In such a situation, reducing daily classroom hours would further affect students' academic interests, he said.

Urging the authorities to act immediately, he called on the government to withdraw the order reducing school timings by 15 minutes in Dakshina Kannada and ensure that students in the district receive the same instructional hours as those in the rest of the state.