The Union government’s latest Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) report for 2024-25 reveals that Karnataka has 308 teachers across 270 schools with zero student enrollment, according to a report by Deccan Herald.
This comes despite a shortage of teachers in schools with high enrollment. However, the number of teachers at “no-student” schools has dropped sharply compared to last year, from 1,572 to 308. Similarly, the number of schools with zero enrolment has reduced from 1,078 to 270.
Officials from the Department of School Education and Literacy defended the move, stating that it aligns with the policy of not closing schools.
“This is basically to attract admissions and in keeping with the government’s policy of not closing any schools. It is hoped that if we have teachers, then parents will consider sending their children,” an official told DH.
Teachers have also been assigned to schools with only one student, they added.
Educationist V P Niranjanaradhya said, such postings may be linked to geographical challenges.
“As there is a lack of access to schools due to geographical issues in some regions, it is necessary for the government to appoint teachers at such schools. Also, since the government cannot abolish the post, it is possible that the post may have been allocated to particular schools during the survey though the teacher may have been deputed elsewhere,” he observed.
The UDISE+ also flagged the prevalence of single-teacher schools. Karnataka has 7,349 such schools with 2.23 lakh students this year, compared to 7,821 schools with 2.74 lakh students last year, added DH.
When student strength is considered across management categories, 8.1 per cent of schools have fewer than 10 students, while 11.7 per cent have between 11 and 20 students. By contrast, 6 per cent of schools report an enrollment of over 500 students.
In total, Karnataka has 74,859 schools with 1.17 crore students enrolled, the report noted.