Karnataka aided institutions threaten indefinite shutdown from November 3

Private aided educational institutions in Karnataka, concentrated in the northern parts of the State, have warned of an indefinite shutdown of schools and pre-university colleges from November 3 if the State government does not resolve their long-standing demands concerning pension, recruitment, service benefits and administration.

Basavaraj Horatti, former Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council and president of the Private Aided Institutions' Management and Employees Agitation Coordination Committee, outlined the plan in Hubballi on Thursday. He said aided primary and secondary schools and pre-university colleges, which have served the State's education needs for decades, are now grappling with financial, administrative and service-related difficulties.

According to the committee, 69.78% of the State's private aided Kannada-medium schools and colleges are in North Karnataka, spread across the Belagavi and Kalaburagi divisions. The Mangaluru region accounts for 17%, while the Bengaluru division has 13%. More than 9,000 posts are lying vacant in these institutions.

To press their case, the committee will hold a protest march in Dharwad on November 2 and submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister. Mr. Horatti said the government had been informed of the problems well in advance, and that the institutions would be forced to lock down from November 3 in the absence of a positive response.

The foremost demand is the extension of the old pension scheme to employees of aided institutions appointed after April 1, 2006. The committee also wants old pension benefits for staff whose recruitment notifications were issued before that date but whose appointments were approved and brought under grant-in-aid later.

Other demands include the implementation of notional pay benefits for eligible aided-school employees in line with court directions, and the immediate filling of teaching posts left vacant by retirement, resignation, death and other reasons. Prolonged vacancies, the committee said, are affecting teaching and the quality of education.

Mr. Horatti criticised the setting up of KPS and PM SHRI schools close to existing aided schools, saying the mandated three-kilometre distance criterion was being violated to allow new institutions. He alleged that in the absence of strong Ministers for school education, officials were taking unilateral decisions harmful to the education system.

The committee is also seeking a simplified school recognition renewal process, with a transparent, time-bound and fully online system. It has called for a review of the teacher-student ratio, particularly for aided schools in Malnad and border districts where enrolment has fallen due to migration and other factors.

Teachers, Mr. Horatti said, are increasingly burdened by online data entry and the upkeep of multiple records, leaving them less time for classroom teaching, and the issue should be addressed on priority.

Further demands include bringing Kannada-medium unaided schools established after 1995 under grant-in-aid, extending facilities available to government-school students and employees to aided institutions, implementing health benefits such as Arogya Sanjeevini, granting menstrual leave to women employees, filling vacant posts in subjects such as music, drawing and drama, and increasing assistance for eggs and bananas under nutrition programmes.

Committee office-bearers G.R. Bhat, Sandeep Budihal and others were present.