With the Covid-19 situation improving in Karnataka, physical classes have resumed for school students of all grades, however, several private schools in Bengaluru are reportedly facing an acute shortage of teachers. The schools were closed for almost a year and a half due to the pandemic. During this time, many schools laid off teachers due to financial constraints. This forced teachers to move to other sectors for employment. Hence, schools that went for downsizing are now finding it really difficult to rehire the teachers.
Teachers, who were laid off during the pandemic, took up jobs from data entry operators to beauticians to online tutors, as per a report by the Times of India. Schools in Bengaluru are facing the most severe shortage of teachers for maths and science subjects, the report stated.
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Explaining why schools are facing such a situation, D Shashi Kumar, secretary of the Association of Management of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka, said school administrations were forced to lay off teachers as they were unable to pay them since parents stopped paying fees for their children. He said that many of the teaching staff also returned to their hometowns and now they are not willing to come back. “There was already a shortage of quality teachers even before the pandemic hit, and the situation has become worse now,” he told the news agency.
Natesh Kumar MN, principal of Gurukul International School, said that one of his school teachers became a beautician and another a manager at a brick company in her hometown. “Getting a good, experienced hand is a challenge now,” he added.
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According to the report, schools have been advertising vacancies in newspapers and on other digital platforms but they are not getting “talented teachers”. As the number of students coming to school to attend physical classes is still low, the schools are somehow managing to continue the learning process with existing teachers.
The Karnataka government reopened preschools, that is, LKG and UKG classes from November 8. Physical classes for classes 1 to 5 resumed from October 25, while classes 6 to 8 began from September 6, and classes 9 to 12 from August 23. The schools have reopened with 50 per cent capacity and teachers have been directed to be fully vaccinated.
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