Hubballi: Karnataka has 53 Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) run by the Union govt. According to an RTI reply, there is a 26% shortage of teachers at KVs in the Bengaluru region, which includes all districts of the state.

Some schools are functioning without a full-fledged principal, and some are left understaffed. The parents who are mainly from union govt departments, including the defence and paramilitary personnel, the state govt, and civilians, are worried about the shortage.

In an RTI reply, a copy of which is available with the TOI, Hema K, assistant commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Bengaluru Region, stated that there are 1,981 sanctioned posts, but 524 of them are vacant.

Umapati Bandakeri, secretary of KV Alumni Association, Hubballi-Dharwad, told TOI that the shortage of teachers is hampering the academic curriculum of KVs across the state. “Though they appoint local teachers on a contract basis, they can’t be engaged in departmental training and other activities like permanent teachers. Another issue is that, as question papers for the written test are in English and Hindi only, South Indian teachers are not getting recruited. If they are recruited, they are not moving to north India due to trouble in speaking Hindi. Hence, KVs should hold region-wise written tests for the recruitment of teachers and provide question papers in regional languages. On the other hand, north Indian teachers, who get posted in south Indian states, will be going back to north India within a year or two using their political influence, even though there is a norm of not transferring a teacher within five years of posting,” he elaborated.

He also noted that earlier, it was mandatory to have a substitute, like local contractual teachers, to relieve any transferred teacher. “Nowadays, this mandate is removed, and north Indian teachers are being relieved at any time from Karnataka or any other state without the arrangement of substitutes,” he added.

Prakash, who worked as a contractual teacher at a KV in Bengaluru, said that he was mercilessly terminated when a permanent teacher joined. “I suffered without a job for the remaining academic year, as I was terminated in the middle of the year. Since then, I have stopped joining KV,” he added.

Shaik Tajuddin, deputy commissioner of KVS Regional Office, Bengaluru, was unavailable for comment.

Is the RTI reply genuine?

Bandakeri suspected that the number of vacant posts given in the RTI reply is either outdated or not genuine. “According to these statistics, each KV in the state faces an average shortage of 10 teachers. However, KV No. 1 Hubballi is facing a shortage of 29 staff against a sanctioned number of 46. While 21 posts are vacant in KV No. 2 Hubballi, against 51 sanctioned posts, KV Dharwad has 21 vacant posts against 55 sanctioned posts. Hence, they might have given a reduced number of vacant posts,” he added.