Govt schools have shortage of 45,590 teachers: Karnataka Minister
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka has a shortage of 45,590 teachers against the sanctioned post of 1,78,935 for 41,088 government primary schools, state School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the starred question of BJP MLA Harish Poonja, Bangarappa said in the Assembly that there is a shortfall of 12,134 teachers in government high schools. Out of 44,144 sanctioned posts, 32,010 posts were filled.
According to the minister, the state has 5,024 government high schools.
"At present, to address the vacancies and for the academic year 2025–2026, 40,000 guest teachers in primary schools and 11,000 guest teachers in high schools—totalling 51,000—have been appointed to overcome the shortage of teachers and to ensure that students’ education is not affected," the minister replied.
Bangarappa said these teachers will start teaching children from the next academic year. In addition, special teachers have been appointed with a view to providing the necessary guidance to students with disabilities, he added.
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"There are 41,088 government primary schools in the state, for which 1,78,935 posts have been sanctioned. Of these, 1,33,345 posts have been filled, while 45,590 posts remain vacant. Further, there are 5,024 government high schools in the state, for which 44,144 posts have been sanctioned. Of these, 32,010 posts have been filled and 12,134 posts are vacant," the minister said in his reply to Poonja.
During the discussion, Poonja highlighted that the salary given to the guest lecturers was too less compared to their counterparts, who are permanent staff.
To this, the minister said their salaries have been increased by Rs 2,000.
The BJP MLA also highlighted that the cost of eggs and bananas given to the children under the government scheme have gone up from Rs 5 to Rs 7.5 per egg.
While the sanctioned amount given by the state government remained the same, the onus has fallen on the school staff to give eggs and bananas to the children every day.
Replying to this, he said a renowned charitable organisation has agreed to provide Rs 1,591 crore to provide eggs to the children in government schools.
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During the discussion, Poonja also sought to know the truth about the cancer scare associated with egg consumption.
In reply, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said there was no need to panic since one company was found using banned antibiotics.
According to Rao, in 2024, 147 egg samples were tested, out of which only one had failed.
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Bengaluru: Woman techie dies by suicide after son drowns
Bengaluru (PTI): A 29-year-old tech professional has allegedly died by suicide after her 11-month-old son was suspected to have accidentally drowned in a bucket of water at their residence here, police said on Thursday.
The incident occurred on April 1 within the limits of the Chandra layout Police Station, they said.
Police said a letter written in English by the woman was found near the bed, in which she stated that their son had fallen into water and died and that she could not save him, and sought forgiveness.
The matter came to light after the woman's husband, Mahantesh Wali, an engineer, filed a complaint with the police, officials said.
The couple had been living in a rented house for the past four years, and they had a 11-month-old son, Agasthya, they added.
According to the complaint, Pratibha Wali was employed at a tech company near Silk Board and had been working from home.
On April 1, at around 9 am, Mahantesh left for work while his wife and child remained at home. At around 6.30 pm, when he returned and knocked on the door, there was no response. He tried calling his wife on her mobile phone, but she did not answer.
He then retrieved a spare key kept near a window, opened the door and entered the house. On checking the room, he found his wife had allegedly hanged herself by tying a saree to a cradle hook. He also noticed a cut on her left wrist and blood stains, a senior police officer said.
Their son Agasthya was found lying on the bed, and when he checked, the child was also dead, the officer said.
An empty strip of 15 tablets was also recovered from the spot, and it is suspected that the woman may have consumed the tablets, police said.
Prima facie, it appears that the infant strayed into the bathroom and fell into a bucket filled with water while the woman was away, seemingly gone to the terrace to dry the clothes. It appears that the woman, distressed over the death of her son, died by suicide, police said.
However, the husband has expressed suspicion regarding the deaths and sought legal action. Further investigation is underway, police added.
