Deputy Commissioner Ikram Shariff on Friday directed officials to ensure that no child is deprived of education and called for the effective implementation of schemes aimed at improving educational opportunities, infrastructure and welfare of minority communities in the district.

Chairing the district-level review meeting of the Prime Minister’s New 15-Point Programme at his office, Mr. Shariff asked officials to go beyond presenting physical progress reports and instead focus on the effective utilisation of budgetary allocations and measurable improvements in the quality of education.

He instructed officials to conduct field visits to minority educational institutions to assess the challenges they face and devise suitable solutions. To reduce learning gaps and prevent dropouts among Urdu-medium students, he stressed the need to strengthen Kannada and English language teaching from the primary level.

He said steps were being taken, in collaboration with the Azim Premji Foundation, to provide teachers for mathematics, science, and languages.

The Deputy Commissioner also directed officials to identify madrassas with more than 200 students and submit proposals for improving their infrastructure.

He sought detailed presentations on the performance, staff shortage and infrastructure requirements of Maulana Azad schools, Morarji Desai schools and Urdu-medium schools. He also warned that strict action would be taken against private schools found compelling parents to purchase books and school bags from specified outlets.

Mr. Shariff instructed the District Waqf Officer to immediately identify waqf board land or other suitable government land for constructing a permanent building for the newly sanctioned Government Pre-University College for Girls in Kalaburagi.

He also directed officials to improve basic amenities at anganwadi centres and ensure that they function from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. Funds available under the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB) should be utilised for constructing toilets and compound walls in girls’ schools, he said.

To identify school dropouts, teachers of Maulana Azad schools were asked to conduct door-to-door surveys, including on Sundays. The Deputy Commissioner also instructed officials to ensure that all eligible students receive pre-matric and post-matric scholarships on time.

Reviewing the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), Mr. Shariff said that, of the 72,000 houses allocated to the district, 37,362 had already been sanctioned. However, only about 7,000 beneficiaries had been selected so far, and he directed officials to expedite the beneficiary selection process.