2 teachers for 200 students: Primary school pupils lock gate in Rourkela

Hundreds of students of a primary school in Rourkela of Sundergarh district on Tuesday locked the main gate of their school protesting against an acute shortage of teachers. 

Established in 1986, Brahmani Nagar Government Primary School at Balughat has only two teachers for over 200 students of Class I to V. 

The agitating students alleged that dearth of teaching staff has badly affected their education. Guardians of the students also joined the protests and demanded immediate filling up of teaching posts in the school. 

“We have only two teachers. Shortage of teacher has hampered our education. We want appointment of more teachers at the earliest,” demanded a girl student. 

“We are hopeful that the government will look into our demands and appoint teacher in our school at the earliest. We want at least five teachers for smooth conduct of classes,” said another student. 

Speaking on the issue, a guardian said, “The school is facing teacher crunch for the past two years. There were three teachers in the school. However, the headmaster has retired from service recently. As the physical classes have commenced, we want appointment of adequate number of teachers. Two teachers cannot handle over 200 students.”

“If the government cannot appoint teachers, why the school has been opened. The school will remain locked until new teachers are appointed. Further, we urge the school authorities to issue transfer certificate (TC) so that our children can take admission in other schools,” she added.