Zero enrolments in more than 1,000 govt and private schools across Karnataka – Times of India

The data was shared by BC Nagesh, primary and secondary education minister, in a written reply during the budget session in the legislative council. These schools include 287 government, 138 private-aided, 966 private-unaided and six other schools.

Kalaburagi, with 181, reported the highest number of schools with zero enrolment, while Uttara Kannada, with three schools, had the lowest.
A teacher of a government primary school in Bidar district told TOI on the condition of anonymity that zero admission in her school did not come as a surprise since enrolments were sliding even before Covid-19 hit.

“Even before the pandemic, we had only 30 to 35 students at most,” the teacher said. “Most people prefer a school in a neighbouring village. There has also been migration from surrounding areas because of the pandemic. ”

Minister Nagesh told TOI that there are more than 3,000 schools in the state with less than 10 students on their rolls. “The reasons for this are many,” he said.

“For one, two or three schools in small towns mean lower enrolments in each school. Unfortunately, there is also a perception that private schools are better than government schools which might also lead to a fall in enrolments. ”

Chandru Nugli, general secretary, Karnataka State Primary School Teachers’ Association (KSPTA), told TOI that zero enrolment is probably the result of migration of residents or schools’ remote location. “The government has set up a school every kilometre,” Nugli said, adding that as opposed to the data, government schools in the state have witnessed higher enrolments compared to private schools.

Failure of ministry, govt

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools (KAMS), said many schools that began in 2018-19 could not continue operations due to the financial blow dealt by the pandemic and zero support from government and institutions.

While pointing out that there is no mention of preprimary schools that shut during the pandemic, Kumar said those numbers will be in the “thousands”. “This has happened even after our pleas for help for budget private unaided schools,” he said. “This is a conspiracy to close small schools and support high fee-collecting schools by harassing others in all ways possible – by not relaxing any norms and with huge corruption in the name of regulation and accreditation,” he said.