Karnataka's Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh revealed the number of vacancies for teachers and staff in government schools and it's a whopper! At least 53,700 positions lie vacant in primary and secondary government schools in the state, the minister stated on December 16 as a written reply to a question raised by Bailhongal MLA Koujalagi Mahantesh Shivanand.

According to Nagesh, there are 41,869 posts vacant in primary schools, 8,292 in secondary schools and 3,292 in pre-university colleges. Shivanand had asked Nagesh when and how the new National Education Policy (NEP) will be implemented in Karnataka.

The minister also stated that the process of hiring 18,000 and 5,078 guest teachers in primary schools and secondary schools, respectively, has already begun. In his reply, Nagesh said that the NEP has been implemented following the recommendations of former Chief Secretary SV Ranganath-led 15-member task force. He also told the House that the government is introducing the NEP in stages.