Karnataka Education Department to organize story, poetry and essay competitions to make better use of school libraries

The Department of Education has set up libraries in all government schools in the state and supplies books every year.

To make effective use of libraries in schools and improve the habit of reading and creative writing among students, Samagra Shikshana Karnataka (SSK) has decided to organize story, poetry and essay writing competitions from the academic year 2026-27.

These competitions will be held at the school and cluster level. In addition, a plan has been proposed to extend skill education to 1,000 schools across the state.

The Department of Education has set up libraries in all government schools in the state and supplies books every year. However, several study reports have shown that students are increasingly addicted to television, cellphones and the Internet, and the habit of reading books and writing is declining, department officials said.

“Students in schools read textbooks only for exams. In addition, the habit of reading other books and magazines is decreasing. Books in school libraries are not being used properly. Along with the development of knowledge in children, creative thinking will also grow from library books. This is the reason for holding competitions,” explained K. Vidyakumari, State Project Director of SSK.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in the current state budget that skill education will be provided to students from classes 6 to 8 in government schools. The government has not yet issued clear guidelines or official regulations regarding the implementation of this scheme.

However, SSK is already imparting skill training to students from class 9 to 12 in 384 schools in the state, including Karnataka Public Schools (KPS).

As a follow-up to this, SSK has taken steps to expand skill training to 1,000 schools from the next academic year.

Three skills are currently taught in schools, including Information Technology (IT), Automotive and Electronics. “Agriculture and plumbing have also been included in skill training in some states. However, students in our state are not much interested in these subjects. Therefore, steps have been taken to include telecommunications in skill training. The proposal was submitted to the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVT) last year and is awaiting approval. Besides, courses in electrician, beauty and wellness and garments are also being considered as textbooks for BodaK Govt. of India for teaching skills to students 6th to 8th grades will be distributed by SSK,” she added.

Published – 21 May 2026 22:03 IST