Teacher Shortage, Declining Student Admission Plagues Kannada Schools on Karnataka-Maharashtra Border

There are fewer Kannada schools in the Karnataka–Maharashtra border region due to a lack of students, poor infrastructure, and an increasing student preference for English-medium schools. This indifference in Kannada-medium schools has a number of explanations. Since Kannada language schools do not offer jobs, fewer students are enrolling in them as a result of basic resources being lacking, such as a teacher shortage, as reported by Times of India.

Marathi medium sees more students

Department officials quoted in a Times of India report state that there is one government elementary school in each of the taluks of Khanapur and Nippani that serves 115 students who speak Kannada. The student to school ratio in Marathi medium schools is better, with one school for every 42 pupils.

Over 270 Kannada-medium schools can be found in the four districts that comprise the border area of the state, which is shared by Karnataka and Maharashtra. Approximately thirty thousand Kannada kids receive an education from these schools.

Mohankumar Hanchate, deputy director for school education and literacy, was quoted by TOI as saying that schools with fewer than ten students are required by government laws to be closed or merged with other schools in order to address the poor turnout in Kannada speaking schools. "It is accurate to say that over 15 schools in both school districts have already been closed," he stated.

Teacher shortage

Remarkably, despite the fact that 1,150 teachers are already working, there is still a 500-teacher shortage. It has been reported that for the last thirteen years, the government has not assigned teachers to Kannada language schools. Children may be lured away from Kannada-medium schools and toward better options like English and Marathi-medium schools due to a shortage of skilled teachers.

The Kannada-medium government schools in the educational districts of Chikodi and Belagavi are of the same caliber. However, along the border districts between the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, Kannada-medium schools are in disarray.

Current Stats

There are currently 90 government schools in Kannada and 206 government elementary schools in Marathi in Khanapur Taluk. 8,900 students in Marathi and 10,200 in Kannada receive elementary education. In Nippani Taluk, there are ten government high schools. Four of them offer instruction in Kannada and Urdu, while the other six are in Marathi.

Published on: Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 08:38 PM IST