Coming year might see a shortage of teachers in private schools

As the state government has decided to reopen schools for Class 10 and 12 students from January 1, 2021, schools have started preparations to welcome students back. However, there is one problem plaguing many schools, especially the low-fee schools — the shortage of teachers.

According to school management, the shortage of teachers ranges from 15% to 20%. While some of the teachers have changed their profession as they were not receiving their salaries, some others have declined to conduct offline classes fearing Covid-19.

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“What we have noticed is that teachers in Kannada medium schools are willing to take offline classes. However, that’s not the case in English medium schools. Also, most likely there will be a shortage of teachers teaching subjects like English, Mathematics and Science,” said D Shashi Kumar, the General Secretary of Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka.

“Teachers who have young children are not ready to return to schools due to the fear of the disease. Though we offer care centres at schools for their kids, the teachers are not ready to come,” explained Shashi Kumar.

Meanwhile, the schools are not in a position to hire new teachers in this situation. “To recruit new teachers is also difficult as we need to pay more. But the non-payment of fees by several parents has tied our hands and we are not in a position to offer high salaries,” said a member of private school management.