Karnataka’s Education Dept. to conduct story, poetry, essay competitions to utilise school libraries better

Key points

• To effectively utilise the libraries in schools and improve the reading habit and creative writing among students, Samagra Shikshana Karnataka (SSK) has decided to conduct story, poetry, essay writing competitions from the academic year 2026-27. These competitions will be held at the school and cluster levels.
• In addition, a plan has been chalked out to extend skill education to 1,000 schools across the State.
• The School Education Department has established libraries in all the government schools in the State and supplies books every year.
• However, several study reports have shown that students are becoming more addicted to TV, mobile and internet, and the habit of reading books and writing is declining, said officials of the department.
• “Students in schools read textbooks only for the purpose of exams.