Bengaluru | September 11, 2026
Bengaluru government schools are facing teacher shortages and infrastructure problems after staff were deputed for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duties, with inspections reporting unsafe classrooms, poor sanitation and disrupted teaching across several institutions in the city.
The issues were highlighted after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) visited four government schools in Bengaluru on Wednesday and Thursday as part of its nationwide “School Thik Karo” campaign. The Indian Express also visited government schools and spoke to teachers about staff shortages linked to SIR work.
At the Government Urdu School in Varthur, CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka said the school had about 150 students across two classrooms, one of which had a ceiling that was coming loose. He said only three of the school’s six teachers were permanent. In a post on X, Ranka said 70 per cent of the classrooms were closed because of falling roofs and alleged that students continued to attend classes in rooms that were unsafe. He also said students told the visiting team that part of a roof had fallen on them.
Ranka later posted that repair work had begun at the Varthur school. The CJP said its members had audited more than 200 schools in Karnataka over the previous month. During a meeting with Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, Ranka said the group discussed gaps observed during the school visits. The minister also explained the Karnataka Public Schools initiative, under which about 2,000 government schools are planned to be upgraded into model schools, according to Ranka’s account.
Teacher deployment for SIR duties was reported at other schools. In Kaikondrahalli, the CJP team said seven of the school’s eight teachers had been deputed. At schools in Yeshwantpura and J P Nagar, more than half of the teachers were reportedly assigned to SIR work for the past three months. Ranka said many schools had been operating with fewer than half their teachers and that the situation could continue for another two months.
The Indian Express found similar shortages at three other institutions. At Karnataka Public School in Adugodi, four of seven teachers had been deputed for SIR work. At Adugodi Government PU College, only two of 13 teachers were available for nine sections and 550 students. At Kengeri Government School, four of the 10 teachers serving about 235 students had been assigned to SIR duty.
A headmaster in Bengaluru’s West Division told the newspaper that classes had hardly been held for three months and that conducting examinations would be challenging. The headmaster questioned how government-school students could match private-school students if such disruptions continued.
The inspections also raised concerns about hygiene. At the Yeshwantpura school, Ranka said the infrastructure was decent but that toilets were in poor condition and garbage was being dumped near the school, affecting the surrounding environment. He called for greater attention from the local civic agency.
Vikas Kishor Suralkar, Commissioner for School Education, said the shortage was more pronounced in urban areas. He told The Indian Express that 15 to 20 per cent of teachers in Bengaluru had been deputed for SIR work and acknowledged that staff might have been taken from the same school. He said the department would try to address the issue and admitted that SIR had “definitely an impact” on academic activities. The department is examining how to overcome the disruption after the SIR process ends.
