Karnataka: 102 schools in Uttara Kannada have no permanent teachers for last 7 months
Including Joida, a total of six taluks namely Sirsi, Siddapura, Mundagoda, Yallapura, Haliyala have 1,142 vacancies for the teacher's post.
3 min read
Students of Government Primary School at Waghbandh attending a programme. (Express photo)Government Primary School in Waghbandh village of Joida taluk, which is nestled in the Western Ghats of Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, consists of around 20 students from class 1-5. The students are engaged in several nature-driven activities like extracting honey from honeybees, nurturing plants, planting saplings, among others.
However, what sets them apart from others is the absence of teachers for the last seven months. Including Joida, a total of six taluks namely Sirsi, Siddapura, Mundagoda, Yallapura, Haliyala have 1,142 vacancies for the teacher’s post, according to Pari Basavarajappa, Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) of Sirsi. He also mentioned that about 102 schools in Uttara Kannada district do not have permanent teachers. Joida alone contributes to 42 schools that are functioning without permanent teachers.
Leeladhar Moger, who worked at the government primary school in Waghbandh for 15 years as the only permanent teacher, introduced a range of agriculture and horticulture activities for students. In fact, the school has a guest teacher named Nivas Derekar, a student of Moger who became a teacher in the same school. “The school now has a teacher (Nivas Derekar) who hails from the same village and is also my student. I ensured that students who are newly admitted and who pass out planted coconut trees. This is because coconut trees can later translate into revenue and the school can generate money by selling the coconuts. However, the school is in a remote part of the Uttara Kannada region and teachers have to travel nearly 13 km from Joida to teach,” said Moger.
The students still practise Moger’s farming model by planting fruiting trees, vegetables and other crops.
However, the district is not as blooming as it sounds. With poor accessibility, the schools are deprived of infrastructure, network connectivity and permanent teachers. The district consists of 1,357 schools wherein 900 account for government schools.
Basavarajappa cites that the transfer of teachers during the months of December 2021 and January 2022, led to the decrease in permanent teachers in these schools. “The teachers from 102 schools were transferred for counseling work in the months of December and January and that led to the absence of many teachers in these schools. Moreover, a teacher has to travel through a forest to teach. It was becoming very difficult for teachers to commute in the mountainous terrain,” he said.
According to DDPI officials, guest teachers have been appointed in schools where there are no permanent teachers. There will be one guest lecturer for schools with 10 or less than 10 students and two guest teachers for schools with less than 20 students. Bashir Ahmad Ali, Block Education Officer of Joida Taluk said, “The guest teachers are appointed based on the strength of the students in the schools. Many teachers shy away from teaching in these schools because of its inaccessibility. These schools are situated in very backward and remote areas and only a few students are enrolled here. Where there are fewer students, the government does not appoint any teachers. Hence, we select teachers from the neighboring schools and appoint them on deputation to the schools where there are no permanent teachers.”
You May Like
