Karnataka School Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa has demanded that teachers from government and aided schools be relieved of duties linked to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, saying their absence is disrupting classroom learning and examination preparation across the state.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Bangarappa said teachers had been assigned voter-list revision work while schools were already dealing with academic requirements. He said the process was being delayed and that the education department’s requests for relief had not received a response.
According to the minister, the additional assignment has increased the workload on teachers and reduced the time available for regular academic activity. He said several parents had complained that children were being sent home after the mid-day meal because teachers were not available in schools.
The timing has added pressure on schools, as mid-year examinations have begun across Karnataka and preparations for preliminary examinations are expected to start soon. Bangarappa said students could struggle to perform well if teachers were not available to provide instruction and prepare them for examinations. He also warned that the quality of education could be affected.
The minister said the issue had been raised by elected representatives and leaders of a political party, while the education department had also written to the concerned authorities. He criticised the Election Commission’s handling of the matter and called for a more considerate approach to the deployment of teachers for electoral work.
Bangarappa also said the state government was preparing a Bill to restrict the use of teachers for caste enumeration, surveys and other administrative data-collection exercises in the future. The proposal, he said, would be discussed by the state Cabinet before being introduced in the next legislative session.
The dispute highlights the continuing administrative dependence on schoolteachers for non-teaching government assignments. While the minister’s statement identifies interruptions to classroom activity and examination preparation, the report does not provide figures on the number of teachers deployed, the districts affected or the duration of the voter-list revision exercise.
For now, the immediate issue is whether teachers assigned to the revision process will be released from the work while schools conduct examinations and resume preparation for upcoming tests. The proposed legislation, if approved by the Cabinet and introduced in the next session, would determine whether Karnataka seeks a longer-term restriction on assigning teachers to surveys and administrative duties.
