At a time when the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) is gearing up to conduct Class 10 examination in an expected two months time, a high school in Odisha still pains to get a teacher of its own.
The Government UG Panchubarahi High School under Satabhaya (Bagapatia) panchayat in Rajkanika block of Kendrapara district is facing a dearth of teachers which has made education a far cry for the students of the higher classes.
The school initially used to run from Class I to VIII but was later upgraded to high school in 2012. However, not even a single teacher has been appointed for the higher classes since then triggering resentment among the locals and the students.
As many as eight batches of Class 10 of the high school have appeared board examination but the local education department has not bothered to appoint a single teacher on a regular basis till date.
Teachers from other schools are roped in for three days a week to teach the students of higher classes to complete their courses of syllabi which often becomes a challenging task.
“There are no teachers and neither any proper classroom for us. We may be able to manage our studies without classrooms but if there are no teachers, who will teach us. Though the teachers of primary classes are currently taking our classes, some topics in the curriculum becomes difficult for them to understand and explain it to us,” alleged Sagarika Lenka, a student of Class X of the school.
“The government has failed to address the issues of the school in the Satabhaya panchayat leaving the education in a mess,” lamented a parent, Sudarsan Rout.
Explaining the situation, the Headmaster of the school, Shyam Sundar Lenka said, “The courses for Class X is yet to be completed and the examinations are nearing fast. We are elementary staff and we do not have the expertise to teach higher class students. But, as there is staff shortage we are forced to take classes of the senior sections,” he added.
Sanjeet Kumar, District Education Officer (DEO) of Kendrapara admitted the shortage of teachers in the school and assured steps will be taken on priority basis to appoint teachers.
“The school is located in remote area due to which the school is facing the shortage of teachers. The matter will be looked into and steps will be taken to appoint regular teachers in the school,” said DEO Kumar.