While the Odisha government claims that world-class education is being imparted to students by transforming schools under 5T initiative, an acute shortage of teachers has exposed the vulnerability in the education system.
Most schools in Odisha continue to grapple with teacher shortage while there are some schools which have teachers in abundance. And the reason behind it is alarming.
Schools with more teachers than required
Uttara Sashan Government Upper Primary School on the suburbs of Odisha Capital Bhubaneswar has nine teachers for 98 students which boast a teacher-student ratio of just below 1:11. As per the State government guidelines, an ideal teacher-student ratio should be 1:30. Which means, there should be one teacher for every 30 students in a school.
More alarmingly, while the school has not had a Headmaster since long, there are some teachers who have been posted in that school since last 15 years without being transferred.
“I have been posted in Uttara Sashan school since 2008. There are no issues in teaching. But we are facing difficulties in withdrawing money for the Mid-Day-Meal because we do not have a Head Master here,” said Latamani Sahoo, a teacher at Uttara Sashan UP School.
Even the Block Education Officer (BEO) expressed his helplessness in transferring these teachers. “They do not wish to transfer from this school because of its location. Despite being a rural school, it is on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar and situated beside the main road. They put pressure on us through senior officials to cancel the transfer. They even refuse to go on deputation to other schools,” said Pipili BEO Rabinarayan Nanda.
School runs with only one teacher
In the same Pipili block, Baragad Primary School has only one teacher for 47 students. While the lone teacher has to look after the official work including the Mid-Day-Meal, 47 students of five classes are forced to sit in a single classroom for the teacher to be able to teach them all. It causes major inconvenience and disturbance for students.
“I face problems in teaching all the five classes at a time. Besides that, I have to look after the official documentation and the MDM too. I have informed the BEO about this problem. He has assured me to fill the teacher posts as soon as possible,” said, teacher Krishna Patnaik.
Despite repeated complaints to the BEO, the teacher problem in this school persists.
A parent Rubi Bhoi said, “We send our children to school to build their future. But there are no teachers here. Earlier there were two teachers. But after his transfer, this school is left with only one teacher.”
Asked about the shortage, BEO Rabinarayan Nanda said, “As far as the teacher shortage is concerned, the government knows about it. We have 14 single-teacher schools in Pipili block. These schools will be filled after the recruitment of 20,000 teachers this December.”