BENGALURU: Karnataka is preparing to expand its Telescope Distribution Scheme beyond Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KRIES) schools to a larger group of govt institutions, science and technology minister NS Boseraju said Thursday. A proposal seeking more funds will be placed before the chief minister during the next budget meeting.Boseraju was speaking at the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, where he inaugurated a training programme for KRIES teachers on operating and maintaining the telescopes supplied to their schools. The effort is part of a broader push to strengthen astronomy-based learning across the State.Under the scheme, 833 residential schools and PU colleges under KRIES have each received a telescope at a total cost of Rs 3 crore. Boseraju said no other government department in the country had taken up a project of this scale. He added that the department hopes to extend telescope distribution to more schools in the coming year.He stressed the need to foster scientific temper and rational thinking among students. Strengthening science education, he said, is essential in an era driven by knowledge and innovation.Training is a key part of the programme. The minister said the govt’s intention was not to distribute the instruments and step away, but to ensure teachers are equipped to use them in classrooms. The hands-on workshop aims to help teachers integrate regular sky observations into school activities, encouraging students to explore astronomy.The department’s 2026 astronomical calendar was also released at the event. The calendar lists monthly celestial events and is meant to support teachers in using the telescopes more effectively. Senior officials from the department and the planetarium joined around 90 KRIES teachers at the event.