RKSSK Demands Separate Yoga and Karate Teachers in Karnataka PM Shri Schools

On Monday, the Rajya Karate Shikshakara Sangha Karnataka (RKSSK) in Bengaluru demanded that the state government establish district-wise expert committees to recruit qualified, separate teachers for yoga and karate across 590 PM Shri schools. The association strongly criticized the government's current hiring approach, pointing to low pay, improper scheduling, and the merging of the two distinct disciplines.

RKSSK General Secretary Katteswamy stated that authorities have failed to form the necessary expert committees to select qualified candidates for the vacancies. He argued that expecting a single instructor to train students in both yoga and karate is unjustified, as yoga teachers cannot teach karate and vice versa.

According to Katteswamy, assigning one teacher to both roles risks encouraging malpractices. He revealed that the association has already received complaints regarding individuals submitting fake karate training certificates to qualify for the jobs.

RKSSK President Mohammed Nadeem expressed deep concern over the working hours and the low pay scale. The government has fixed a monthly honorarium of Rs 12,000 for the appointed instructors.

Nadeem argued that the authorities should not require martial arts teachers to attend school every day. Under the current schedule, instructors are required to work three days a week for just one hour each day. He demanded that teachers be permitted to go home during their free time.

The selection of teachers and finalisation of school timetables was supposed to be completed in June. Despite a delay of more than a month, the hiring process has not yet commenced in many PM Shri schools. Nadeem attributed this delay to widespread confusion among prospective candidates regarding the dual training requirement, and urged the government to increase the honorarium.