Lok Sabha Question No. 1462 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-09
Subject: Quality and Accessibility of Government Schools in Karnataka
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Basavaraj Bommai

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 1462

ANSWERED ON 09/02/2026

## Quality and Accessibility of Government Schools in Karnataka

1462. Shri Basavaraj Bommai:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the steps taken by the Government to improve the quality and accessibility of school education in Karnataka during the last three years and the current year;

(b) the current status of teacher vacancies and infrastructure gaps in Government schools in the State; and

(c) the details of the outcomes achieved in terms of student enrolment and learning level?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a): The subject 'Education' is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and overwhelming majority of the schools in the country comes under the administrative control of States/UTs.

The  Central  Government  is  implementing an integrated  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme for School Education  -  Samagra  Shiksha  since  2018-19  throughout  the  country  including  Karnataka  covering pre-school  to  class  XII.  The  Scheme  has  been  aligned  with  the  recommendations  of  National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and aims to ensure that all children have access to quality education with  an  equitable  and  inclusive  classroom  environment  which  should  take  care  of  their  diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  States  and  UTs  including Karnataka for providing various facilities to the children which include free textbooks and uniforms to  eligible  children  at  elementary  level,  teaching  learning  materials,  transport/escort  facility  up  to secondary level,  special  training  for  age  appropriate  admission  of  out  of  school  children,  seasonal hostels/residential  camps,  special  training  centres,  age-appropriate  residential  and  non-residential training,  support  to  Out  of  School  Children  (16  to  19  years)  for  completion  of  education  through NIOS/SIOS, Holistic Progress Card, support to Children with Special Needs (CWSN).

Further,  under  the  Scheme,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  the  States  and  UTs  for improving accessibility of School Education including development/strengthening of infrastructure of Government schools, setting up, up-gradation and running of Kasturba  Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, construction of hostels for PVTGs under PM-JANMAN, setting up of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, construction of hostels under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for unsaturated ST population.

As informed by State Government of Karnataka, in order to  improve the quality of school education,  various  steps  like  Ganitha  Ganaka  (one  to  one,  teacher-pupil,  remote  phone  tutoring  to ensure  that  all  students  understand  the  basic  operations  of  mathematics),  Marusinchana  (remedial teaching  to  improve  the  learning  gaps),  Gnanasetu  (AI  assisted  App  which  caters  to  additional learning materials in various subjects) etc. have been undertaken by the State Government. Further, for  improving  accessibility  of  school  education,  Higher  Primary  Schools  have  been  upgraded  to Secondary schools, 100% Transport and Escort Allowance have been provided to students travelling from remote habitations.

(b): The recruitment, service conditions and rational deployment of teachers are under the purview of the  respective  State  Governments/UT  administrations.  Further,  recruitment  is  a  continuous  process and vacancies arise due to a number of factors like retirement, resignation, increased requirement of teachers  because  of  the  enhanced  students'  strength,  etc.  The  data  regarding  the  vacant  posts  of primary and secondary school teachers across the country, including in Karnataka, are maintained by the respective States/UTs.

However,  the  Department  collects  information  on  the  availability  of  teachers,  infrastructure  etc. annually through Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) for all States/UTs. As per the latest UDISE+ report i.e. UDISE+2024-25, the details of in-position teachers in Karnataka across all Government schools at all levels is as follows:

| Total    | Primary (1-5)   | Upper Primary (1-8)   |   Upper Primary (6-8) | Secondary (1-10)   | Secondary (6-10)   | Secondary (9-10)   | Higher Sec. (1-12)   | Higher Sec. (6-12)   | Higher Sec. (9-12)   | Higher Sec. (11-12)   |
|----------|-----------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|-----------------------|
| 1,95,656 | 36,209          | 98,157                |                   257 | 8,463              | 8,179              | 25,420             | 1,948                | 2,272                | 10,204               | 4,547                 |

As  per the UDISE+2024-25  report,  the  details  of  availability of infrastructure facilities in Government schools in Karnataka are as follows:

|                                                     |   Percentage (%) of Government Schools |
|-----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Govt. Schools with Boys' Toilet                     |                                   95.8 |
| Govt. Schools with Girls' Toilet                    |                                   98.8 |
| Govt. Schools with Drinking Water                   |                                   99.9 |
| Govt. Schools with Ramps                            |                                   87.8 |
| Govt. Schools with Electricity                      |                                   98.9 |
| Govt. Schools with Playground                       |                                   82   |
| Govt. Schools with Boundary wall                    |                                   89.7 |
| Govt. Schools with Library/Book Bank/Reading Corner |                                   99.1 |

(c):  As per the latest UDISE+2024-25 report, 47,34,360 students were enrolled in the Government schools in Karnataka.

The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 (formerly National Achievement Survey) was undertaken in  December, 2024 by the National Assessment Centre, PARAKH, NCERT under the aegis of the Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy  to  understand  the  baseline  performance  under  the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in development of competencies among the students at the end  of  the  Foundational,  Preparatory,  and  Middle  stages  (Grades  3,  6,  and  9  respectively).  The Sarvekshan  is designed  as  a  system-level  reflection  on  Learning  Outcomes  in  India  which underscores  critical  competency,  skill  or  infrastructural  gaps  at  various  stages  of  schooling.    The grade-wise overall performance of students in the State of Karnataka is as under -

| Grade   | Subject             |   Percent correct scores |
|---------|---------------------|--------------------------|
| Grade 3 | Language            |                       60 |
| Grade 3 | Math                |                       57 |
| Grade 6 | Language            |                       55 |
| Grade 6 | Math                |                       45 |
| Grade 6 | The World around us |                       47 |
| Grade 9 | Language            |                       51 |
| Grade 9 | Math                |                       33 |
| Grade 9 | Science             |                       37 |
| Grade 9 | Soc. Science        |                       37 |

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