Bengaluru: The Karnataka Department of School Education and Literacy has decided to make parent-teacher meetings (PTMs) mandatory once every two months in all government schools, following an overwhelming response to the state’s first-ever mega PTM.

In a circular issued recently, the department has laid down a schedule requiring schools to invite parents regularly and update them on their children’s academic performance, extracurricular progress and any concerns related to behaviour or learning, Deccan Herald reported on Tuesday.

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The officials of the department reportedly said that the mega PTM held across the state on Children’s Day received overwhelming response. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had inaugurated the event.

A senior department official said regular PTMs would help parents understand their role in their children’s education and strengthen coordination between teachers and families. Such interactions create a supportive learning environment and improve student outcomes.

Teachers say that the concept of PTM itself is new for government schools. “Even if we have to convey something to parents regarding their children, it is not an easy task to convince them to visit schools, especially in rural areas. But after the mega PTM most parents are happy to meet teachers,” said Chandrakala, head teacher working with a government high school.

The department has clarified that a yearly PTM schedule will be issued, and schools must strictly follow it. The aim is to conduct at least five PTMs in every academic year.

During the mega PTM, parents were also served meals prepared under the mid-day meal scheme. Teachers, however, said there is no clarity yet on whether meals for parents will continue during future PTMs.

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Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.

The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.

Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.

The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.

India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.

In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.

Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.

The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.

It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.

Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.

The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.

The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.

On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.