MANGALURU: According to the department of public instruction, about 20 govt schools across Dakshina Kannada district have recorded zero admissions so far this academic year. Authorities said the figure could change as the admission process remains open until end of June.The highest number of govt schools with zero admissions has been reported from Sullia, with seven such institutions. Mangaluru North has four schools with no admissions, while Mangaluru South has three. Moodabidire and Puttur limits have two schools each.No govt schools with zero admissions have been reported from Belthangady.Sumangala S Nayak, deputy project coordinator, Samagra Shiksha Karnataka (SSK), said the final list of schools with zero admissions will be finalised by June 30.Officials said schools with no enrolments may be temporarily closed until admissions resume. Citing an example, Nayak said a school in Sullia that recorded zero admissions in the previous academic year has reopened this year after receiving a few admissions.The department claimed that they are yet to receive consolidated data on zero admissions in aided and unaided institutions for the current year. Aided schools have historically been among the worst affected, as they do not receive govt funding.Regarding aided Kannada-medium schools, officials said some managements are reluctant to continue operations due to low financial viability, lack of permanent teacher posts, and a preference to either close schools or shift them to English medium or CBSE streams.District data from the past five years shows that a total of 90 primary and secondary schools recorded zero admissions and were subsequently shut down, including both aided and unaided institutions.
