Teachers tasked with completing syllabi within about two-and-half months

The State government has issued a circular to government and government-aided private schools asking them to hold extra classes for an hour during working days to complete the syllabi by February 5, 2026.

The circular which is effective from Friday is to make up loss of teaching hours owing to extension of Dasara holidays by 11 days (till October 18).

Teachers in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts will have to cope with the circular in addition to conducting the classes for the whole day on Saturdays to make up the loss of teaching hours owing to holidays declared by the district administrations due to heavy rains. Schools in the twin districts have already begun holding full-day classes on Saturdays.

Meanwhile, G. Shashidhar, Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Dakshina Kannada, issued a circular a few days ago asking schools to function for the whole day on State holidays.

The government extended the Dasara holidays to enable teachers to complete the house-to-house Social and Educational Survey of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. As many as 3,900 government and aided school teachers from Dakshina Kannada were involved in the survey work.

As per the circular issued by the Commissioner of Department of School Education and Literacy on November 6, the extension of Dasara holidays has resulted in loss of 10 days (eight full days and two half days) of teaching hours.

For high schools, this was a loss of 66 teaching hours. The circular said teachers for classes 8 to 10 have to hold extra one hour of classes from November 7 to January 24, 2026. This extra hour can be either at the start or after regular school. The teachers should also hold extra classes between January and March 2026 for slow learning children. Special focus should be given on improving the results of class 10 students writing the SSLC examination.

Primary schools have lost 74 teaching hours owing to the survey. Teachers of classes 1 to 7 should hold extra hour classes from November 7 to February 5. They too should hold special classes for slow learners from January to March 2026, the circular stated.

Teachers said parents have been informed about changes in the school timings and they (teachers) now have less time to prepare for classes. They are also losing out of personal time with their family members. Care is being taken to ensure that extended hours of teaching do not burden students. Plan has been worked out to complete syllabi before commencement of SSLC preparatory examination in February 2026, a senior government school teacher said.