Karnataka schools to remain closed till October 18 as caste survey extended by CM Siddaramaiah

Karnataka schools will be closed from October 8 to 18 for teachers to participate in a socio-economic survey to complete unfinished work.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday announced that government schools across the state will remain closed from October 8 to October 18 to allow teachers to participate in the ongoing statewide socio-economic and educational survey.

The survey, which began on September 22, was originally scheduled to conclude on October 7.

The survey, which began on September 22, was originally scheduled to conclude on October 7. However, the Chief Minister noted that in several districts, the work remains incomplete.

“Today marks the final day of the survey as per the original schedule. However, in some districts, the survey work is still incomplete. In Koppal, 97% of the work is done,” Siddaramaiah said during a press conference according to news agency ANI.

In contrast, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts have completed only 63% of the survey. “Across the state, the survey has not progressed as expected,” the CM added.

A total of 1.2 lakh teachers and 60,000 other officials have been engaged in the survey. In response to a request from the Teachers’ Association, the government has decided to grant school holidays for teachers, except those involved in II PUC (Second Year Pre-University) exam duties, so they can focus on completing the survey. To ensure timely completion, officials in Bengaluru have been instructed to wrap up the survey before Diwali. Overall, the survey period has been extended by 12 days.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre emphasized that the purpose of the survey is to understand the socio-economic conditions of all communities and not to conduct a caste census. “It is a socio-economic census to assess the backwardness of all communities. Social justice will be ensured for all, and there is no need for any community to panic,” Khandre told ANI.

The survey aims to enumerate around 7 crore people in the state and assess their social and economic status. A team led by Madhusudan Naik, along with five members, has been collecting data, targeting 50,000 households daily.

Google Trends

Search term 'school holidays'(Google Trends)

According to Google Trends, the search term ‘school holidays’ spiked on Wednesday after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah extended the Dasara holidays for government schools. The highest number of searches came from Karnataka, followed by Chandigarh, Punjab, Telangana, and Odisha. Among the related queries, the top trending ones were “school holidays 2025,” “school holidays Karnataka,” “Karnataka,” “holidays for school,” and “October school holidays.” The surge reflects public interest and confusion following the government’s announcement to keep schools shut until October 18 to facilitate the ongoing socio-economic and educational survey.