State-aided schools short of 6000 teachers

Mangaluru: State-aided primary schools are facing a shortage of 6000 teachers across the state. No new recruitment has happened in the last twenty years whereas 27 schools in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts have locally appointed honorary teachers.

There are 2,326 aided schools in the state. Only a handful of these, mostly old schools, have received some grants recently. Sixteen thousand teachers are on duty in these schools whereas the sanctioned number of posts is twenty thousand – a shortage of 6000.

Since 1998, no new appointments were made. Every year many teachers from these schools retire causing the vacancies to increase. The Karnataka State Aided Primary School Teachers Association has appealed the state government to look into this issue but to no avail.

These schools are similar to government schools. Education here is free. The only difference is that unlike government schools where 60 students are handled by 5 teachers, in aided schools one teacher handles 40 students. Many teachers claim this is the main reason for the shortage.