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Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
81% posts for teachers in 171 institutions run by Bengaluru civic body vacant
Bengaluru: A staggering 81% of posts for teachers in 171 educational institutions run by BBMP are lying vacant, shows civic body's data. Only 147 of the 761 sanctioned posts are filled. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Instead of filling up posts, guest, or ad-hoc, teachers run the show. BBMP has 93 kindergartens, 17 primary schools, 35 high schools, 20 pre-university colleges, four undergraduate colleges, and two postgraduate colleges under its jurisdiction. To plug the severe shortage of permanent staff, the recruitment of guest teaching staff has increased steadily over the years. In 2021-22, there were 678 guest lecturers, and this number increased to 786 in 2024-25. The negotiations for transfer of BBMP-run educational institutions to the state education department have been continuing for a long time without any outcome. And this has led to the recruitment process being put on hold. So much so, there is no data available on recruitment of permanent teaching staff over the last four years. Suralkar Vikas Kishor, special commissioner, education, BBMP, said: "Although a final decision about the transfer hasn't been made, the recruitment process is currently on hold because hiring permanent staff would mean they officially become BBMP employees. Handing them over to the state govt later would create administrative complications. That's why we've been depending on guest teachers for the time being." BBMP institutions depend on underpaid, ad-hoc teachers, who often juggle multiple jobs and lack proper training that affect students' learning, say educational experts. "Appointing guest lecturers saves govt money — they don't have to pay regular salaries or benefits like vacation pay. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now But this severely affects the quality of teaching. Many of these ad-hoc teachers are underpaid, juggling other jobs like tuition, so their focus and commitment towards students naturally suffer," said Maya Menon, director of The Teacher Foundation. Educationist Niranjanaradhya V P: "Appointing a permanent teacher costs Rs 55,000 to 60,000 a month. For the same amount, the govt can hire five or six guest teachers. That's the unfortunate math driving this policy. Permanent teachers, with job security and dignity, generally perform better, and research shows job satisfaction enhances teaching quality. Guest teachers, on the other hand, work harder for peanuts with no job security and constant worry of disciplinary action in case of a minor error. " Poor Results and Declining Admissions This excessive reliance on guest faculty is also reflected in a drop in pass percentage in these schools. The SSLC pass percentage was 55.38% for 2024-25, which is a drop of 13.4 points from 68.78% in 2023-24. Suralkar agreed the academic performance of students was below par. "One of the core issues we face is the lack of regular academic assessment. We're planning to introduce structured, quarterly examinations. This will help us understand each student's academic standing and intervene accordingly," he said. He also cited low parental involvement as a challenge. "Most of our students come from underprivileged backgrounds, and their parents are often occupied with earning their livelihood. That adds to the learning gap. To tackle this, we're working on making online content more accessible and improving teacher quality through regular training with NGOs like Pratham." Quote Hangers (no mugshots) Educationist V P Niranjanaradhya As per the RTE Act, vacancies in schools should never exceed 10%. But this basic norm is rarely followed, especially in BBMP institutions. The real issue is not just vacancies, but how they are being calculated. The department tends to project consolidated data at the district or block level, which masks severe shortages at the school level. If calculated strictly as per RTE norms, the actual vacancy figures in BBMP schools are far worse than the 81% vacancy data that's being reported Maya Menon, director of The Teacher Foundation Even the poorest parents prefer private schools, not because they're better, but at least there's accountability. In BBMP-run institutions, there's no real accountability. We talk big but aren't doing enough to get the basics right. Box Downfall in BBMP institutions Year - No. of admissions 2022-23 - 24,656 2023-24 - 23,910 2024-25 - 23,341
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
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.
