EDUCATION

EDUCATION IN KARNATAKA

Till the latter half of the 19^thancient type of education system existed in Karnataka in the form of Agraharas, Shivapuris, Brahmapuris, Ghatikasthanas, and Mutts etc. They were almost of residential type with the close teacher-pupil relationship. At Agraharas and Brahmapuris scholars lived in colonies. They used to teach higher traditional texts like Upanishads and ancient philosophies. Separate arrangement was there to teach reading writing and mathematics. Ghatikasthanas were like present universities where higher education was provided by highly learned Acharyas.

However, as British Rule took hold of India, ‘School System’ in education replaced the traditional system. That was a gradual shift. English language teaching commenced and people were also attracted towards that as it was practically more beneficial than learning oriental subjects. But even though ghatikasthanas and brahmapuries vanished, coolimathas continued to exist where a single educated person used to stay in a temple or in a rich man’s house and teach a cluster of children whom he could get in the vicinity. Parents of those children used to provide him with necessary food, shelter and some money for his expenses. The salary was an unknown term even then. Such Coolimathasexisted even in the 1920s. Later on, they diminished fast with the opening of many primary schools and those people got Government jobs as teachers. Those were the days when educational psychology was unknown to many. Learning by heart was the main method of learning.

Modern Education

Beginning Modern Education could be traced to the establishment of modern type schools in different parts of present Karnataka in the first half of 19^thcentury. The main schools then established are the following:

1) In 1826 - Two Marathi vernacular schools were established as one in each of Dharwad and Hubballi towns which then belonged to the then Bombay State. These were started by Bombay Native School and School Book Society;

2) In 1833 - Mysuru Rulers started one ‘Free English School’ for the public at Mysuru;

3) In 1838 - Schools were started in Mangaluru, Udupi and Ballari;

4) In 1853 - Dar-ul-Uloom School was started at Kalaburagi (which then belonged to Hyderabad State) by Nizam;

5) In 1834 - Government started two Anglo-Vernacular Schools at Madikeri and Virajpet and a Kannada School at Ponnampet.

Christian Missionaries zealously worked in spreading education in the State during the 19^thCentury. But later, in the first half of the 20^thcentury, native enthusiasts took a leading role in establishing educational institutions in the State. That was then thought of as a field to serve the Nation. But the syllabus and curriculum in different parts of the State prior to integration of Karnataka varied with one another as they belonged earlier to erstwhile princely States. To remove this haphazardness, one committee viz.,‘Education Integration Advisory Committee’ was appointed in 1956. It designed a uniform pattern of education for the whole State.

Pre-primary Education

Pre-primary Education or the kindergarten system of education is a preparatory stage for schooling. Its importance was recognized by the State as far back as 1900. It was provided mostly by private people. But in 1957, a committee was constituted to give recommendations to the Government in these matters of pre-primary education. It recommended the systematic running of this stage in education. Accordingly, many Shishuviharas (Play Homes) were started and run by the social welfare department of the Government. The present system of pre-primary education has mainly two stages, 1) Lower Kindergarten (LKG) from three years ten months of age to four years ten months and 2) Upper Kindergarten (UKG) that runs in the next one year of age. By then, the child would be of five years and ten months and that should be admitted to the Primary First standard. But these days, children are sent to ‘Play Homes’ at the age of two years ten months. This is for one year, till they become eligible for admission to LKG. This pre-LKG level is called by different names like - ‘Pre-Nursery’, ‘Nursery’ ‘Preparatory’ etc. This has born out of necessity as felt by such small families where both the parents go for work.

Primary Education

Till recently, primary education, following the recommendations of the Kothari Commission (1964- 66) was being provided in two stages, 1) Lower Primary Education – from class 1-4 (four years) and 2) Higher Primary Education – from class 5-7 (three years). But for a couple of years, in order to fall in line with the uniform system of schooling as suggested by the Union Government and one that is followed by majority States, classes First to Fifth are considered as Lower Primary Levels. Even though the departmental circulars are issued in this regard, the process is yet to complete as the Eighth standard from High Schools (Secondary Schools) need to be removed and attached to HPS. That means putting more number of B.Ed. trained teachers in Higher Primary Schools.

Before going to the number of schools at present, a brief note on the evolution of the uniform pattern of primary education is presented here in the form of main points: 1) Till 1958 there was no uniform syllabus for primary education; 2) From 1959-60, the introduction of a common syllabus took place in a phased manner. By 1962-63, primary education in the State had a common curriculum and syllabus. According to this, Kannada became a compulsory subject from standard Third to Sixth (Four years), for non-Kannadigas three-language formula was adopted; 3) The syllabus was revised and implemented from 1974-75. In this revised syllabus, Health Education was introduced as a part of Science and Oral Education became a compulsory subject. Even the physical science syllabus was upgraded and 4) Now since 2011-12 Eighth standard is getting added to higher primary schools, even though the process is not yet complete.

Secondary Education

Prior to the reorganization of States in 1956, ‘Secondary Education’ meant Schooling from 5^th to 10^thStandard. Then classes 5^th to 8^thwere together called ‘Lower Secondary Level’ (middle school) and 9^th to 11^thstandards together recognized as high school belonging to ‘Secondary Level’. After that ‘Intermediate Course’ (comparable to present PUC level) had to be completed and after ‘two-year’ ‘Bachelor degree course’ would be opening its doors to aspirants (who were naturally few in number for obvious reasons like cost, distance etc). But things changed after the reorganization of States. In 1961, the previous ‘Lower Secondary Level’ was reduced to three years. Classes Eighth to Tenth were called ‘High School Level’ and it had a public examination at the end. That examination, even now, is called SSLC which means Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Then, ‘Intermediate course’ was reduced to one year's ‘Pre-university course’ and Bachelor’s degree period was enhanced from two years to three years. Again there was a change in 1972. One-year PUC was extended to two years. Now, ‘Secondary Education’ generally means schooling from class Eighth to Tenth. But as already mentioned above the process of adding Eighth standard to higher primary level has already started in the State. Only Ninth and Tenth standards will remain at Secondary Level and PUC is scheduled to be renamed as ‘Higher Secondary Level’. But, as yet the process is not yet over and debate is going on, presently we use the term ‘Secondary Education’ for high schools giving instruction for Eighth to Tenth students or NinthandTenth students, as the case may be. The PUC or Plus 2 stage will be dealt separately.

In the princely State of Mysuru (which is popularly called old Mysuru State), the first Government High School was started in 1858 in Bengaluru. High Schools were then monitored by Universities. Hence it was affiliated to the University of Madras. Later, mission schools were being run at Tumakuru, Shivamogga and Hassan. These schools and the Maharaja’s School in Mysuru were taken over by the Government. By 1882, there were four High Schools in Belagavi area (Bombay Presidency), two high schools in Mangaluru and Ballari district put together (Madras Presidency). One high school in Kalaburagi was established by 1875 (upgraded AV School) and a central school at Madikeri (Kodagu - The Independent State then) was upgraded to high school in 1879.

This was the condition of secondary schools till 1882. There was no uniform pattern. There were a total of 537 secondary schools in Karnataka by the time of reorganization. These schools had a total strength of 1,25,645 students. A new curriculum was introduced in 1960, and by 1963, the entire State had a uniformity in pattern, syllabus and examination. The State level public examination was uniformly conducted at the end of Tenth standard and that was SSLC examination. A separate Board called ‘Secondary Education Examination Board’ was constituted as a statutory body to conduct this examination, evaluate, announce results and issue marks cards of this examination. Since then, this board is performing its job magnificently well. In 1964-65, a scheme was introduced to upgrade High Schools (Secondary Schools) into Higher Secondary Schools. This was introduced in 50 schools in the State. One year PUC was started in these schools. This class was called ‘Eleventh Standard’. But this scheme was closed in 1972, when PUC was made a two-year course. Meanwhile, another experiment went on in which some schools were chosen and named – ‘Multipurpose High Schools’ or ‘Multipurpose Higher Secondary Schools’. This was done as per the recommendation of Mudaliar Commission that was constituted at National Level to suggest measures to improve education at high school level. These multipurpose high schools developed facilities to provide training in tailoring, horticulture, smithy, agriculture etc. (whatever was possible for them). Government permitted the appointment of teachers in those subjects. But, with the implementation of Kothari Commission Report, this scheme was abolished and all those schools were converted into general schools as before. Teachers appointed for those subjects had to be continued by extracting one work or the other till their retirement.

Job oriented courses formerly at pre-university level, orientation to particular professions like – Mechanical, Electrical, was there. Training both in theory and practical was given to students who opted for this course. This was provided with a view to enable students to take up a profession soon after +2 level. But after some years of experience, the department learnt that students who completed these JOC courses were neither absorbed for jobs nor could they do the job on their own. Hence now these JOC linked P.U. Courses are abandoned.

Reforms in examination

Karnataka Government is continuously striving to improve the efficiency of students completing +2 level education. Government also strove hard to make the examination and valuation more transparent. Hence it took a major decision in 1997. In that year PU Board decided to issue photocopies of valued answer scripts in four science subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Biology) of second year P.U. exam. Later, it was extended to other subjects also in a phased manner. It is a hard job for the officials as the demand was in terms of thousands. But they are doing it to maintain transparency

Teacher Training Course – D.Ed

Teacher Training Course is aimed to train PUC passed youths to teach primary classes. A training school at Mysuru was established as early as in 1860. A normal school that was started at Dharwad in 1867 was later converted into a post metric training college (TCH). Teacher training courses were started at Maharani’s College for Women, Mysore, in 1888. A course for training men teachers to teach middle school (higher primary) classes was started at Mysuru in 1913. Another similar one for women was started at Maharani’s Training College. By 1931-32, there were 11training colleges in Karnataka State. Nine of them were Government Colleges.One was aided by the Government and another one was unaided. All these were meant to train primary school teachers only. No training institution was there for secondary school teachers. Of these eleven, eight were for men and the rest three were for women. In 1950 these training courses were renamed – ‘Teacher’s Certificate-Higher’ (TCH) and ‘Teacher’s Certificate-Lower’ (TCL).

By 1956, there were totally only 14 teacher training institutions, seven to impart TCH training and seven for giving TCL training. Private organizations were not taking much interest in starting such training colleges. By 1956, 2,431 men trainees and 983 women trainees were studying in these institutions. By 1999-2000, there were 136 TCH institutions (comparable to present D.Ed. Colleges), in the State. Total strength in these colleges was 9,982. But the scene changed drastically by the end of 2004. As the Central Government made a change in its policy on professional education, all private managements who meet the prescribed norms were getting permissions to open different professional colleges. States had no option than to see whether they meet and maintain norms or not. As a result, many private educational institutions came forward to open D.Ed. Colleges (renamed previous TCH colleges). While the number of D.Ed. (TCH earlier) colleges was 131 in all in the whole State in 2003-04. It suddenly rose to 547 in 2004-05 due to the above change in policy.

Pre-Primary teacher training institutes

Pre-primary teacher-training institutes offer one-year training to women who have passed at least a pre-university exam. By 1992-93, there were totally 93 such institutions in the State. Out of these, 49 were Government, only one was aided and the rest 43 were private unaided institutions. This is much higher when compared to the total number of 31 pre-primary TTI’s existed in 1980-81.The number of such institutions further increased in later years. By 2011 there were 61,187 Anganawadicenters and 3,331 mini Anganwadicenters in the State. These are run by the Government and along with nursery education, they also provide food & medical care to little children.

Collegiate Education

Apart from Universities,there is a separate department to look after college education in Karnataka. This is called ‘Department of Collegiate Education’ (established in 1960) and has a Commissioner as its head. Under him is the Director. The department has its state office in Bengaluru and regional offices in different parts of the State. The first-ever institution for higher education in the entire Karnataka was started at Mangaluru in 1869, by the then Madras Government. That was a ‘Second Grade College’. In 1870, the Government High School, Bengaluru, was upgraded into a college. It was named ‘Central College’ in 1875. Maharaja’s High School in Mysuru and Government High School at Shivamogga started preparing students for F.A. examination (Intermediate exam) of Madras University in 1879.

There was only one women’s college in Karnataka in those days. It was Maharani’s College in Mysore established in 1901. It was a second grade college in the beginning and then upgraded into First Grade College in 1920.

Regional offices of collegiate education were established at Bengaluru, Dharwad and Mysore in 1980, Mangaluru and Kalaburagi in 1985 and Shivamogga in 1996. Thus, there are six regional offices now, each managed by a Joint Director. They are controlled by the Director of Collegiate Education, Bengaluru.However, this department supervises the administration of only Government aided colleges. Unaided colleges are inspected by ‘Local Inquiry Committee’ of the concerned University.

Colleges of Education (B.Ed)

Untill 1914 there was no provision in the State for training of graduate teachers. They had to go to Teachers College at Saidapet in Chennai to get training. That training was then called ‘Licentiate in Teaching’ (L.T). However, in 1914 a training course for graduates was started at Normal School in Mysuru. Mysuru University introduced B.T. degree (Bachelor of Teaching) in 1925. In 1947, a Teachers College with a practicing school was started in 1947 by the Government of Mysuru. Mysore University started a Faculty of Education in 1952. Post Graduate course in Education (M.Ed.,) was also started in 1956.

University Education

There are 27 Universities in Karnataka. Some of these run Post Graduate courses in subjects taught in Degree colleges. They also provide opportunities for doctoral research in those subjects (Eg. Languages, History, Sociology, Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Maths etc.) But there are some other Universities which regulate the study and research in certain specialized fields like Medical, Horticulture, Veterinary Science, Folklore etc. Mysore University was the first one to be established in Karnataka. It was started in 1916 by then king KrishnarajaWodeyar IV of erstwhile Mysore State.Prior to its establishment, Higher Education in Southern and Coastal Karnataka was controlled by Madras University, Chennai. Northern part of Karnataka was under the mercy of Bombay University and Osmania University for Higher Education till independence.

Karnataka University was started at Dharwad in 1949. Then it had the whole North Karnataka under its jurisdiction. Bengaluru University came into existence in 1964 with the then Bengaluru and Tumakuru districts under its jurisdiction. The Coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, which was under Mysore University till 1980, got a separate Mangaluru University in 1980. Present Mangaluru, Udupi and Kodagu districts are covered by that University. Kalaburagi University was also started in 1980 with Bidar, Kalaburagi and Raichur districts in its jurisdiction. Till then these three districts were covered by Karnataka University itself. Kuvempu University was started in 1987 with Shivamogga, Chikkamagalur and Chitradurga districts. Till then these districts were under the jurisdiction of Mysore University. Later, Sri Krishnadevaraya University was started at Ballari in 2010 taking some area from Kalaburagi University. Similarly, Rani Chennamma University was started in the same year at Belgaum reducing the jurisdictional burden of Karnataka University.

Tumakuru University was started in 2004 with only Tumakuru district as its jurisdiction. All these Universities have post graduate courses in different subjects. Now decentralization of post-graduate education has begun for the past ten years. That means, Universities are allowing the colleges affiliated to them to run post-graduate courses of their choice. If prescribed norms are met, then University permits those colleges to open post-graduate departments. By this, PG education is also being imparted at centres outside the campuses.

Bengaluru University

The Bangalore University was established in July 1964 as an off shoot of the University of Mysore, primarily to include institutions of higher learning located in the metropolitan city of Bangalore and the districts of Bangalore, Kolar and Tumkur, which eventually became a separate university. After the trifurcation, there are about 298 colleges affiliated to the University and it territorial jurisdiction includes colleges located in Vijayangar,  Padmanamabanagar, Bommanahalli, Anekal, Bangalore South, Yeshwanthapur, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Dasarahalli, Mahalakshmi Layout, Govindarajanagar, Nelamangala, Magadi, Ramanagar ,Kanakapura and Channapatna. The administrative office of the University is located at Jnana Bharathi campus on Mysuru Road.

Trifurcation of Bangalore University

In 2009 a committee submitted a report recommending trifurcating Bangalore University, which had over 600 affiliated colleges. In 2012, C.T. Ravi, the then Minister for Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, announced plans to bifurcate 300 colleges out of the University by creating Bengaluru North University. Requests to following the original recommendation or even create four universities were made. In May 2015 the Government announced it will follow the original recommendation and create Bengaluru North University and Bengaluru Central University with about 200 colleges assigned to each of them. The Bill was passed in July 2015 and the University was inaugurated on 21 September 2017.

Bengaluru North University

The Government of Karnataka notified the establishment of Bengaluru North University by trifurcating the erstwhile Bangalore University through its University Gazette Notification dated: 13-08-2015.The Territorial Jurisdiction of Bengaluru North University covers all the Legislative Assembly constituencies of Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts; C.V.Ramannagar, K.R.Puram, Mahadevpura, Pulikeshinagar and Sarvagnanagar of Bangalore Urban District and Hosakote, Devanahalli and Doddaballapur of Bangalore Rural District.

The university has 224 affiliated colleges. Affiliation to the three universities is based on Karnataka Legislative Assembly constituencies. The University has its headquarters located at Tamaka, Sri DevarajUrs Extension in Kolar. A permanent campus will be constructed at Amaravathi village in Chikkaballapur district.

Bengaluru City University

Another University carved out of Bangalore University is Bengaluru City University, formally known as Bengaluru Central University. The University has a total of the 239 affiliated colleges with its head office located at Bengaluru Central College campus located on Palace Road in Bengaluru. The territorial jurisdiction of the University includes colleges located in the following Legislative Assembly constituencies of Bengaluru namely - Shanthinagar, Byatarayanapura, Yeahanka, Malleswaram, Shivajinagar, Gandhinagar, Hebbal, Chamarajpet, Chikkpet, Basvanagudi, BTM Layout, Jayangar and Rajajinagar.

Davanagere University

Davanagere University is one of the youngest Universities having its jurisdiction spread across two Districts viz., Davanagere and Chitradurga and headquartered at Davanagere..The University prior to its establishment functioned as a Post-Graduate Centre of the University of Mysore from 1979 to 1987. Later, with the establishment of Kuvempu University in 1987, the P.G. Centre came under the jurisdiction of the new university due to its geographical location and hence functioned as its P.G. Centre from 1987 to 2009.

Davangere University was established on 18^thAugust 2009 by being carved out of Kuvempu University with a purpose and vision to meet the educational aspirations of the people of this region. The university has 112 Colleges affiliated to it in total, with one Constituent College and one Autonomous College, offering Graduate and Post-Graduate programmes in various disciplines catering to the educational needs of more than 60,000 students.

IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) also has its regional centre in Bengaluru since 1987. It has as many as 50 study centres in the State. It provides distance education mainly in English medium, though in some subjects,lessons are offered in the Hindi medium also. IGNOU makes good use of multimedia to provide distance education.

Special Universities

Apart from above mentioned general universities, there are universities in the state,  established for specific purposes. Their jurisdiction is vast but function is limited to a single discipline or related disciplines. They are:

Kannada University

This is a University established in 1991 at Kamalapura near the famous Hampiarcheological site exclusively for the study of Kannada and development Kannada language and literature with necessary content books in various subjects. It is developed in a vast area of 230 hectares. It has different departments for the study of manuscripts, epigraphy, folklore, translation, tribal culture etc. Apart from that, it has a centre for teaching sculpture. It runs some post-graduate degree and diploma courses also. Integrated five-year course is also open for graduates where a graduate once admitted can come out with M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.

University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru

The University began its academic activities by offering degree programs in Agriculture and Veterinary disciplines. Later, a degree program in Fisheries science was added with the establishment of Fishery College at Mangaluru. Due to the need for horticulture specialization, a degree program in Horticulture was added with the establishment of Horticulture College at Mudigere. The degree program in Dairy science was added by starting the Dairy Science College, at Hebbal. The Department of Agricultural Marketing and Cooperation was newly created which commenced the degree program in Agricultural Marketing and Cooperation. The new college of Forestry in Ponnampet, South Kodagu, offered the degree program in Forestry, the new college of Sericulture at Chintamani offered the degree program in Sericulture. The Chintamani campus also offers B.Sc (Agri) program from 2007. The Department of Agricultural Engineering offered the Bachelors degree in Agricultural Engineering. This heralded ruralization of education utilizing the facilities in the already existing Agricultural Research Stations. Currently, the recently and newly created Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University with headquarters at Bidar, is offering the Veterinary Science, Dairy Science and Fishery science degree programs

Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Bidar

The Government of Karnataka established the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University during 2004. The University was established exclusively for the development of education and learning; conduct of research and extension education and transfer the rural oriented technologies in the areas of Veterinary, Animal, Dairy and Fisheries Sciences in the State.

University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga

The University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga (UAHS) is the first integrated University in Karnataka, which has both agricultural and horticultural sciences under its purview. It was established in the year 2012. It was carved out by separating seven districts from the jurisdiction area of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, including all the institutes which came under the University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot. The jurisdiction area of UAHS, Shivamogga covers the districts of Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Davanagere, and Chitradurga.

University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad was established in the year 1986. The University has five Colleges, 27 Research Stations, 6 Agriculture Extension Education Centers, 6 KrishiVigyanKendras and Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC). The University has its jurisdiction over 7 districts namely Bagalkot, Belgaum, Bijapur, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, and Uttar Kannada. Greater diversity exists in soil types, climate, topography cropping and farming situations. The jurisdiction includes dry-farming to heavy rainfall and irrigated area. Important crops of the region include sorghum, cotton, rice, pulses, chilli, sugarcane, groundnut, sunflower, wheat, safflower etc.

University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur

Demand for an exclusive University for Agricultural Sciences for Hyderabad-Karnataka (H-K) region was felt almost a decade back owing to inimitable climatic conditions and farming activities. The University was established in the year 2008. The H-K region comprising Bidar, Kalaburgi, Raichur, Bellary, Koppal and Yadgir districts, an agrarian area with an irrigation potentiality of 12 lakh hectares through Tungabhadra, Krishna, Karanja, Mullamari, Hirehalla, Bennethore and other irrigation projects, spanning a total geographical area of 44.96 lakh hectares accounting 33.60 percent of the geographical area of the State, of which nearly 68 percent is under cultivation and has a unique combination of medium (32.42%) and large farmers (36.69%) bestowed with rich natural resources especially for agricultural development.

University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot

University of Horticultural Sciences came into being during 2008 at Bagalkot. The choice of Bagalkot as the headquarters of the University is rightly justified because of two reasons namely, the rich horticultural production base of grapes, pomegranate, sapota, fig, lime, sweet lime, varieties of vegetables, spices and medicinal plants; besides, the bordering districts of Belgaum, Dharwad, Koppal, Bijapur and Raichur, are the hub of horticulture because of the favourable climate for horticulture crops in the area. The Alamatti Dam located in the area acts as a backbone for agriculture/horticulture within a radius of 50km from Bagalkot.

Technical Education – Visvesvaraya Technological University

Modern Technical Education in State began as early as in 1862. In that year, the first Technical Institute was started in Bengaluru affiliated to Madras University. Another Technical Institution was started in Bengaluru itself in 1873. In this institute students were prepared for lower services in PWD. In the same year 1873, the Industrial Training Institute was started at Dharwad also. Industrial Schools were established in Hassan and Mysuru in 1889 and 1892 respectively. A similar school was started at Bidar in 1902 which taught Bidri work. School of Mechanical Engineering was started in Bengaluru in 1913. Later, ‘Industrial Training Institutes’ were started by Government at different places in the state like – Chikkamagalur, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Doddaballapur, Sagar and Nelamangala. Two major industrial schools viz- ChamarajendraTechnical Institute Mysuru and Weaving Institute, Bengaluru were also started. These schools were later brought under the control of Department of Industries and Commerce. The only grant-in-aid institute in this category was – The Zanana Home Industrial Institute for Women, Channapatna. At the time of integration of States, the erstwhile Mysuru State had 14 Industrial Schools. In 1952, State Government constituted a ‘Council of Technical Education’ and a Syllabus Board. D.P.I was the Ex-officio Director. Board of Technical Education also came into existence in 1952. It started awarding Diplomas since 1953-54.

Engineering Degree Colleges

The first such Engineering College was started at Bengaluru in 1917 by the then Mysore Government. That was the only Engineering College in the state till 1946. In that year, one Government and two private Engineering Colleges were started. By 1956,the year of reorganisation of States, there were only five engineering colleges. They are 1.Government Engineering College, Bengaluru; 2.Government BDT Engineering College, Davanagere;3.BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru; 4.National Institute of Engineering, Mysuru and 5.BVS College of Engineering, Hubballi.

During 2010-11, there were 287 Engineering Diploma (Polytechnic) Institutions in the State with a strength of 58,039 (17,119 females and 40, 920 males). During the same year 187 Engineering Diploma Colleges functioned with total student strength of 63,221 (Females 24,164, Males 39,057).

Karnataka Folklore University

The credit of establishing a full pledged University for the study, research and development of Folklore, goes to the Government of Karnataka. For the first time, Karnataka Government declared the establishment of this University by an ordinance on 28-9-2010 and Prof. AmbalikeHiriyanna was appointed as the special officer of the University on the same day. Later, many things followed. Prof. Hiriyanna, in consultation with the State Government, formed different committees to select the land, to choose logo and motto for the University and for such other purposes. As these committees proceeded with their work, the State Government prepared the bill for establishing the University and it was unanimously passed by both the Houses of the State Legislature. Dr. A. Hiriyannawas chosen as the founder Vice-Chancellor. University came into existence from 22-7-2011.

University has undertaken many projects now and involved many field workers and scholars in it. Some such projects are – GramaCharita Kosha (Encyclopaedia of village history), Grama Karnataka (Folklore museum), KannadaJanapadaNigantu (Kannada Folklore Dictionary) among others. It has also awarded financial grants to 30 minor research projects by various scholars. Motto of the Universtiy is – ‘HonnaBittevuHolakella’ which means ‘we will sow the gold in the entire farm land’ which is originally a line in a popular folk verse.University has a publication division and already published the book- ‘Janapadavarsha – 2011’ which contains brief review on folklore books published in Kannada during the year 2011. The book is edited by Dr. S.P. Padmaprasad, one of the senior folklore scholars in the State.University has its own website: www.janapadauni.in. Its email is: kajavivi@gmail.com.

Legal Education and Law University

The first Law College in Karnataka was started in Belagavi in 1939. It was started by Karnataka Law Society, a private organisation. It was named after Raja Lakhamagowda, who was the ruler of erstwhile Sirasangi Princely State. By the time of reorganisation of State (1956) there were only four Law colleges with the total strength of 758 including two women students. The course was of two years duration. Colleges in Mysuru University jurisdiction awarded B.L. degree and those under Karnataka University were awarded LLB degree. Karnataka University also had post-graduate course (LLM) in Law. By 1968, number of colleges went up to 13, out of these, 8 were present in old Mysuru State, three in Mumbai Karnataka region (Dharwad and Belagavi) and one each in Mangaluru and Kalaburagi.

There are two types of Law courses in the state now. i) A three year course to which only graduates are admitted and ii) Five year course to which +2 level passed students are admitted.By the commencement of the year 1999-2000, number of Law colleges in the State was 68 with 23,302 students. By 2006, the number of Law colleges increased to 70. Out of these, one is the Government Law College, two are university Law colleges and other 67 are private colleges. Realizing the huge expansion of legal education in the State and the necessity to provide separate provision for its qualitative development, the Karnataka Government thought of establishing a separate University for the purpose. Accordingly, Karnataka State Law University (KSLU) was established in 2008 with Hubballi as its headquarters. Now all Law colleges in the State are monitored by this University

Karnataka State Women’s University,Vijayapura

It was established in August 2003, in Vijayapura.It is specially meant for developing women’s education and promoting women studies in the area. It supervises 70 colleges spread over 12 districts of Northern Karnataka. This university offers various UG and PG programmes leading to different degrees. These courses are not only in languages, but also in Humanities, Science, Fashion Technology, etc. Home Science and Physical Education are also a part of the curriculum.The University has dual degree programmes as well. The University has an IGNOU study centre and it is an attempt to provide distance education. Worth mentioning the effort of the University is the establishment of a ‘Women’s Technology Park’.It has different divisions like-‘Bio-Diesel Technology’, ‘Bio-Informatics Facility Centre’, ‘Food Processing Training Centre’ etc.,that are handled mostly by women.

University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot

Established in 2004, this Iniversity is rightly centred at Baglkot.The area is rich in plantation crops like Sapota, Pomegranate, Grapes, Fig, Lime, Sweet Lime, etc. Different types of vegetables are also grown here. The University has ten horticulture colleges, affiliated to it.It also has five research centres.University has a three tier education system in which it awards diploma, UG and PG degrees.

Centres of Higher Learning

Apart from Universities, there are some centres of higher learning in the State which are of International fame. Among them are: Indian Institute of Science – Bengaluru, Central Institute of Indian languages – Mysuru, Regional Centre of CIIL – Mysuru, Regional Institute of English, Jnanabharathi, Bengaluru, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, National Law School, Jnanabharathi, Bengaluru, and Indian Institute of Management, (IIMB), Bengaluru.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was established in Bengaluru during 1909 with generous contributions fromJamshedji N. Tata and allocation of vast land by the then ruler of Mysuru State Sri KrishnarajaWodeyar IV. It is the top ranking institute in terms of research output. Admission to this University is made through an entrance examination at the national level.

Institute has the credit of having the services of late Sir C.V. Raman and other eminent scientists as its directors in the early years. Presently, many luminaries who are of world repute in their respective fields are among the teaching faculties.IISccelebrated its centenary year during 2009.

Indian Institute of Technology, Dharwad

Indian Institute of Technology, Dharwad (IIT Dharwad) is an autonomous premier Science and Technology Institute established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India in 2016 under the mentorship of IIT Bombay. Academic activities at IIT Dharwad commenced in July 2016 with B.Tech course being offered in three core branches, namely, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The current intake at the institute stands at 40 students in each of the specializations. PhD program commenced from January 2018 session. The current campus of IIT Dharwad has been established within the WALMI (Water and Land Management Institute) campus (135 acres), which is adjacent to Dharwad Bench of Karnataka High Court. The Karnataka Government has provided about 470 acres of land for the establishment of the permanent campus of IIT Dharwad, which is about 2-3 km away from the transit campus within the WALMI campus. IIT Dharwad has been working at an accelerated pace on campus development and establishment of infrastructure at the permanent campus site.

Indian Institute of Information Technology, Raichur

IIIT Raichur is one of the new IIITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, located at Raichur in Karnataka. IIIT Raichur has started its academic activity in August 2019 with its first batch of Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering.The institute will start functioning from its temporary campus in Government Engineering College, Raichur from the academic year 2020-21. As the mentor institute, IIT Hyderabad will continue to oversee the functioning of IIIT Raichur. The Government Engineering College, Raichur, has been equipped with all the necessary arrangements to accommodate the IIIT Raichur. All the facilities and amenities at GEC Raichur Campus will be extended to IIIT Raichur as well.

Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru

The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) is maintained directly by the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Union Government. This is a national level institute aimed to perform research for the development of Indian languages. The institute sponsors research in the study of various Indian Languages and methods of teaching them. It prepares textbooks, helps research and publication in Indian languages, organises workshops and seminars

Regional Centre of CIIL, Mysuru

The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) centre has four regional branches in four directions of India - East, West, North and South. The southern regional centre is present in Mysuru at Manasagangotri campus. The Regional Centre conducts courses for high school teachers in learning other Indian languages of their choice. Duration of course is ten months. The institute also conducts workshops for teachers.

Regional Institute of English (RIE), Bengaluru

This is the Southern Regional Centre of Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages located Hyderabad. The regional office is situated in Bengaluru University campus at Jnanabharathi in Bengaluru. RIE offers diploma courses in teaching English. It has a language lab, library, hostels etc. It organizes workshops for teachers to orient them in different aspects of English like phonetics, grammar, teaching methods etc. It has also produced audio tapes and CDs in spoken English.

Central Food Technological and Research Institute (CFTRI),Mysuru

Central Food Technological and Research Institute (CFTRI) works under the purview Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It was established in the year 1950.  It conducts research mainly in the fields of Biochemistry and Nutrition and Food and Vegetable Technology. In each of the above courses, each division has many departments which include Food Engineering, Food Microbiology, Food Packing Technology, Human Resource Development among others. After 62 years of its meaningful existence, CFTRI now stands as one of the world’s largest and most diversified food technology laboratories in the world. Started with only 3 persons it now has more than 300 scientists, technologists and engineers and more than 400 technicians, skilled workers and support staff.

National Law School University, Bengaluru

This prestigious institute was started in 1988. It is located at Jnanabharathi campus of Bengaluru University. It is a national level institute running a five-year Law course. Students who have completed +2 level are eligible for admission to the institute. Selection is made on an All India basis.

Indian Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru

This Institute is one among the top 100 business schools in the world. It was established in 1978 by the Government of India. This institute is well known for its excellence in research and scholarship. The Institute has a beautiful campus of 40 hectares. It runs courses in different disciplines such as Public Policy, Enterprise Resource Planning, Insurance Research and Management and others. It has a separate distance education branch as well. A special programme of a one-year duration called ‘Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management’ (E-PGP) is also offered by IIMB.

Libraries

Karnataka State has separate Directorate of Public Libraries. The topmost officer in the department is called ‘State Librarian’. State Central Library is housed in the heritage red building situated in Cubbon Park, Bengaluru. It also houses the State Librarian’s office and Copyright registration section. Department of Public Libraries has its branches up to taluk level. Public Libraries are also operated in village panchayats which are supervised by the departments.

Source: A Handbook of Karnataka, Department of Gazetteer (Special Publications), Government of Karnataka.