Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Jan 22: To address the issue of shortage of teachers in state government-run schools, Karnataka government may soon rope-in private school teachers to take classes in government schools by paying them honorarium.

The modalities are being worked out within the Primary Education Department. It will be proposed in the cabinet meeting by the education minister and will be rolled out after the proposal gets a cabinet nod, confirmed state education minister Suresh Kumar’s office.

Delay of hiring teachers by the government and shortage of candidates who clear Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) is the main reason for the shortage of teachers in schools.

The number of vacancies in teaching staff in government primary schools is estimated to be 22,000. Yadgir with 1835 vacancies is the worst affected.

According to an Education Department official, the government had decided to appoint guest teachers at monthly compensation of Rs 8000. However, with jobs available with better payments, the salary failed to attract good candidates.

According to Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan survey conducted in 2017, 5.3% of the state’s 14,937 secondary schools have five core subject teachers. This leads to a single teacher being forced to teach multiple subjects.

The government earlier was contemplating on hiring engineering graduates to teach science and mathematics in schools. There is a shortage of 5,500 teachers in these two subjects.