Government schools inKarnatakaare short of 17,258 rooms, the legislative assembly was informed last week. The rooms includes separate chambers for teachers and headmasters and offices as mandated by the Right to Education (RTE) rules.
Replying to an unstarred question seeking details of classroom shortage on July 6, school education and Literacy ministerMadhuBangarappa said there is a requirement of over 17,000 rooms and to make up, under Viveka Yojane, 6,601 classrooms were sanctioned in schools in 2022-23. While the required fund for the project was Rs 943 crore, Rs 469 crore was released last year. This year, Rs 30 crore has been released as the first instalment.
Additionally, he said, Rs 48 crore was released for repairing 1,878 schoolrooms last academic year. In yet another project, under the Samagra Shikshana Karnataka plan, Rs 50 crore has been released for building 274 classrooms and toilets at 39 Karnataka Public Schools. Gram panchayats have been given the freedom to use funds under theMahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Actto build and maintain classrooms.
As per the data, Chitradurga needs 1,664 classrooms the biggest requirement among all educational districts. Vijayanagara needs 1,159 rooms, Davanagere 1,160, Vijayapura 1,144 rooms, Kalaburagi 1,025 and Raichur 1,023. Belagavi (574) and Belagavi Chikkodi (500) are the other educational districts with much shortage. Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru North need 200 rooms.