Karnataka Government Teachers and Anganwadi Workers Pulled Into Election Duty Leaves Classrooms Empty

What Happened

Children in government and aided schools across Karnataka have spent months without teachers because thousands of educators have been assigned as Booth Level Officers for the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The SIR began on June 30, with 59,050 BLOs appointed across the state. According to the Government Teachers Association, 70,000 people have been diverted as BLOs and BLO supervisors. With teachers away, many schools operate with only one or two teachers, forcing multiple classes to sit together outdoors. Students report spending days playing instead of studying, missing fundamentals in Mathematics and Science, and facing anxiety over upcoming exams.

Reactions and Impact

Students note that their attendance has dropped and they no longer remember the syllabus. A class 8 student in Pulikeshinagar named M. Devaraju stated he was sent to his grandparents' home in Kolar to help with the ragi harvest after months without teachers. Meanwhile, anganwadi workers have also been pulled away for BLO duties and verification work for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, leaving centres staffed only by helpers who struggle with administrative tasks and childcare. Teachers and BLOs report severe physical and mental exhaustion, citing intense public pressure during door-to-door enumeration. A BLO in C.V. Raman Nagar mentioned having to bring her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter along while facing uncooperative residents.

Context

This disruption follows a series of non-teaching assignments given to educators over the past year, including a caste survey in September 2025 and National Census 2027 enumeration work between April and May. While some schools have brought in guest teachers, medium-specific institutions like Urdu- and Tamil-medium schools face extreme staff shortages because replacements must know the local language of instruction.