Udupi : Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, said on Friday that it was essential to provide incentives to motivate good teachers.

He was speaking after inaugurating the conference on education organised by the district unit of Karnataka State High School Assistant Teachers’ Association, at Town Hall, here.

Mr. Madhwaraj said that usually both good and bad teachers got the same facilities and increments in government service.

Good teachers should be motivated to do more. Hence the Sports Department under him was providing a reward of Rs 1 lakh to a school which performed well in sports with the physical training teacher getting Rs 10,000 out of the amount.

The Sports Department had handed over the maintenance of 14 swimming pools to the Assistant Directors instead of outsourcing them. The department had said that it would provide cash rewards of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 for maintaining swimming pools.

As a result, before the scheme started, the annual revenue generated by these swimming pools Rs 27 lakh. But after the incentive scheme was started, the revenue for just two months was Rs 67 lakh.

Udupi district had topped the State in both SSLC and II PU results. The credit for these results should go to the quality of teachers serving here, Mr. Madhwaraj said. Puttanna, MLC, said that the Bengaluru Sports School was performing well. But those taking care of it, who were earlier paid annually, were now paid for just 175 working days. This should be reversed. With the exception of the Coastal districts, most Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs) were not interested in getting results.

Counselling for transferring teachers should be introduced for DDPIs also. Nearly 18,000 posts of teachers were vacant in the State.

Teachers were now saddled with more administrative work including midday meals and providing documents than teaching. This should be reversed. Recently teachers were not paid for three consecutive months. “Then how could one expect them to concentrate on their profession?” he questioned.