Karnataka govt schools reboot today but most teachers caught up with caste census
Bengaluru: On Friday, govt schoolchildren will walk into their new classes but will not see most of their teachers. Reason: Teachers are either busy with the survey of Scheduled Caste (SC) communities or on SSLC-2 exam duty.
The caste census overseen by Justice Nagamohan Das aims at counting the Scheduled Caste and has been under way since the first week of May. Govt school teachers have been at the forefront of the census.
"On Thursday, teachers were expected to be on campus to prepare the school for students. Students are expected on Friday. We have 10 teachers. Three of them were assigned the caste census work while another four were on SSLC duty.
So, we had only three teachers on Thursday. On Friday too, only three are expected," said the headmistress of a govt school in East Bengaluru.
"We expect full attendance of students only from Monday as students will return from their native places only over the weekend. So we will manage with the available teachers on Friday. We hope the teachers are back from Monday," said another headmistress.
"We have instructed teachers to be present at the school during working hours and continue with the caste census after work.
They are overloaded with work," said a representative of another school.
Around 8,232 govt school teachers have been assigned the work of house surveys. As per the latest counts, till May 24, 7,895 of them were on the ground. Teachers are likely to have a hectic weekend, as special camps are being organised for three consecutive days from May 30 to June 1, 2025, across all assembly constituencies. As schools and colleges have reopened, the camps are expected to open in the verandas of these buildings, sheltered from rain and wind.
"It's disappointing that, repeatedly, year on year, we talk about the importance of enhancing the quality of teaching in govt schools. Yet, we don't have teachers who are ready from the very first day of learning. We are constantly hijacking children's learning opportunities," said Maya Menon, founder, Teacher Foundation.
"Teachers are the first choices for the census because they are educated and can clearly speak to households in a respectable manner. However, when the department is even mindful of not taking them out for professional development on working days, how is it that they are being used for something like the caste census," she added.
A senior official said the department of school education and literacy has already written to the department of social welfare to release the teachers. "We will follow up again," said the official.
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