Feb 04, Kathmandu- More than 5,000 teacher's positions are vacant in Karnali Province. Balbir Sunar, Senior Education Officer at the Education Division, Ministry of Social Development, Karnali Province, said that there are still 5,549 teacher vacancies in Karnali.

There are only 11,865 teachers in 2,931 community schools in Karnali. Currently, there are 17,384 teachers on a school-by-school basis. There is a shortage of 644 teachers in 927 primary schools.

The number of teachers required in this level is 8,793, but there are currently only 8,149. Similarly, there is a shortage of 2,699 teachers in 1,140 lower secondary schools. There is a shortage of 4,560 teachers at this level, but there are currently only 1,861 teachers.

Similarly, there is a shortage of 1,749 teachers in 605 secondary schools. There are only 1,276 teachers at this level, out of the 3,250 teachers required.

There is a shortage of 457 teachers in 259 higher secondary schools. There should be 1,036 teachers at this level, but currently there are 579, informed Officer Sunar.

According to him, there is a shortage of English, mathematics and science teachers in Karnali. According to the law, the minimum number of teachers should be three at the primary school level, four at the junior secondary level, five at the secondary level and four at the upper secondary level. Due to the shortage of teachers, teachers have been appointed in various alternatives. He said that teachers have been appointed from private sources, local levels, provincial levels and federal support. With more than 600,000 students studying from early childhood development to upper secondary level, Karnali's literacy rate is 76.1 percent.