308 teachers posted in 270 Karnataka schools with zero enrolment: UDISE+ report
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has appointed 308 teachers to 270 schools that currently have no students enrolled, according to the Union government’s Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report for 2024-25.
The Deccan Herald reported that the data shows that while several schools with higher enrolments face shortages of teaching staff, teachers continue to be retained in schools without a single student. However, the number of such cases has significantly reduced compared to last year. In 2023-24, 1,572 teachers were deployed in 1,078 schools with zero enrolment. This year, the figure has come down to 308 teachers in 270 schools.
Officials from the School Education and Literacy Department defended the move, stating that maintaining staff in such schools is part of the government’s policy of not shutting down institutions. “The idea is to encourage admissions. If teachers are present, parents may be more willing to send their children,” a department official said. Some schools with just one student also have teachers posted.
Educationists point out that in several regions, especially those with geographical barriers, the presence of a teacher is essential even when enrolment is negligible. “Since posts cannot be abolished, it is possible that teachers are shown against such schools in the survey but deputed elsewhere,” explained development educationist V. P. Niranjanaradhya.
The UDISE+ 2024-25 report also highlights the scale of single-teacher schools in Karnataka. There are 7,349 such schools catering to 2.23 lakh students. Last year, the figure was higher, with 7,821 single-teacher schools accommodating 2.74 lakh students.
While the enrolment distribution ratio shows that 8.1 per cent of schools in the state have fewer than 10 students, 11.7 per cent have between 11 and 20, while only 6 per cent have more than 500 students, Karnataka has 74,859 schools with a combined enrolment of 1.17 crore students.
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23-year-old woman found dead at Delhi home; suicide suspected
New Delhi (PTI): A 23-year-old woman was found dead in her house in Delhi's Prem Nagar area, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide, an official said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Anjali Singh, was found motionless in her room on Monday by her sister and her neighbour.
Police said her father, Vinod Kumar Singh (51), told them that he and his wife were away at work at the time of the incident, while their son and the other daughter were also not at home at the time of the incident.
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According to the family, the room in which Anjali was found was locked from the inside. The door was later forcibly opened by a neighbour and her sister with the help of a crowbar.
Her body was found lying on the bed inside the room, police said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Anjali had allegedly hanged herself using a piece of cloth tied to the ceiling fan.
It is suspected that the noose eventually might have loosened or torn off, resulting in her being found lying on the bed.
Family members informed the police that Anjali was a final-year student of a librarian science course from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). About a week ago, her final-year examination results were declared, and she had failed, following which she had been under depression, they said.
The family has not raised any allegation of foul play, police said, adding that no suicide note or external injury marks were found on the body during the initial inspection.
Inquest proceedings have been initiated in the matter as per the law. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death, and further investigation is underway, police added.
