The southern state of Karnataka (pop. 64 million) is staring at a massive teacher shortage crisis in primary-secondary education. According to a survey report of the Union HRD ministry (Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan) titled Teacher Demand and Supply in Secondary Schools, released in May, only 5.3 percent of the state’s 14,937 secondary schools and 7.2 percent of 4,614 government secondaries have five core subject teachers. The overall teacher shortage in government and government-aided schools is 16,039 and 14,944 respectively, says the survey. This huge teachers deficit is certain to torpedo the ambitious target of the Congress state government to attain universal secondary education by 2017 when the legislative assembly elections are scheduled. 

The survey also reveals that 65.6 percent of secondary school teachers teach all subjects suggesting that the quality of education dispensed is poor. But despite this huge shortage of teachers in primary-secondaries in the state, neither the BJP (2008-2013) nor the successor Congress governments of the state have shown any urgency to remedy the situation. 

On the contrary, according to Dr. Niranjanaradhya V.P, fellow at the Centre for Child and the Law, National Law School of India University, Bangalore, permanent teacher recruitment has considerably slowed in the past five years with the Congress government slashing the state’s education budgets. Karnataka’s public expenditure on education as a percentage of GSDP (gross state domestic product) has averaged a mere 2.69 percent during the past three years, significantly below the 6 percent recommended by the Kothari Commission way back in 1966 and reiterated by the T.S.R. Subramanian Committee Report on the imminent National Education Policy, 2016. The state government’s allocation for primary-secondary education in 2016-17 is budgeted at Rs.17,373 crore, 7 percent higher than in 2015-16 (Rs.16,204 crore), but lower than in 2014-15 (Rs.17,425 crore). 

According to a spokesperson of the state’s education ministry, per school teacher statistics are misleading because a large number of government primaries have small student populations. “The rule under the RTE Act, 2009 is that we need to establish one school within every kilometre of every village. This has resulted in a lot of small schools across the state,” Ajay Seth, principal secretary (primary and secondary education) said according to a news report in The Times of India (May 2).

“The state has 2,800 primary schools with an enrolment of less than 10 students. Although a seemingly small number of teachers are posted in schools with low enrolment, the 1:30 teacher-pupil ratio is adhered to in all government schools,” explained Seth to your correspondent. 

However, low enrolment in government schools is the outcome of abysmal learning outcomes, and lack of teacher accountability, says Niranjanaradhya. “The first priority of the state government should be to ensure teacher accountability to improve learning outcomes and to fill teacher vacancies. State schools should be modelled on the country’s 1,117 Kendriya Vidyalayas to attain better learning outcomes which will enable them to retain children in their classes,” he advises.

But to raise Karnataka’s 56,367 government primary-secondaries to KV standards, a huge leap forward in the state government’s budgetary allocation for school education is a necessary precondition. The annual Union budget provision for the country’s 1,117 KVs with 1.2 million students in 2016-17 is Rs.3,795 crore — a per capita annual provision of Rs.31,629 or Rs.2,636 per month. Against this, the per capita provision for the 11 million children in Karnataka’s government schools is Rs.1,321 per month. 

Unless this gap is bridged, teacher shortages will persist in Karnataka’s 56,367 government schools which unsurprisingly, are suffering a steady exodus of students.

Sujata Choudhury (Bangalore)