Covid impact: Zero enrolment at 287 schools in Karnataka, 750 private institutions shut

Assessing the impact of the Covid pandemic on the education sector, perhaps for the first time in the last three years, the state government has discovered that 287 schools across Karnataka have witnessed zero admissions.

Also, more than 750 unaided private schools have shut doors permanently due to the financial crisis.

According to data tabled by the department of primary and secondary education in the Legislative Council last week, out of more than 77,000 schools in Karnataka, about 50,000 are run by the government. Of these, 285 primary schools and two high schools have failed to attract any student in the last three years.

The findings have left many perplexed as the state government had been claiming that admissions at government schools have shot up considerably during the pandemic as parents, affected by the financial crisis, chose to admit their wards from private to government schools. Officials from the department, however, attributed the trend to the absence of children of a particular age group in those places where these schools are located.

Dr R Vishal, Commissioner, Department of Public Instruction told DH, “There are absolutely no students in those locations for quite some time now. The pandemic was just a sheer coincidence.” Further, officials revealed that there is no question of shutting these schools or merging them with nearby schools.

“The resources available with those schools have been shifted to the needy and neighbouring schools and any government body can utilise the infrastructure,” said Dr Vishal.

Interestingly, Tumakuru district topped the list of schools with zero admission with 48 followed by Hassan and Kalaburagi (26), Bidar (25), Chikkaballapur (18) and Chamarajanagar (13).

The data revealed that 721 primary and 245 private unaided schools have shut down. According to some of the representatives of these schools, the move was mainly due to financial crisis during the pandemic.

Largely, schools with 150 admissions or less and which got permission during 2018-19 have failed to stay open.

“The management was unable to pay salaries and handle other expenses. As the interest on borrowings was rising, they had no go but to shut doors,” explained D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka.

The association has also demanded that the government announce a package for private schools that have been badly hit. “We appealed to the CM to provide us with interest-free loans or waive interest on loans. But the government turned a blind eye and as a result, these schools have shut doors, affecting education,” Kumar said.

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