TV
Rengali Project College (a Plus-II educational institution) situated in Odisha's Angul district is grappling with a dire lack of teaching staff that is severely affecting the education of its students. Interestingly, the college has no faculty at all, sources said on Tuesday.
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“Despite enrolling approximately 100 students in arts and science streams, the college does not have a single permanent teacher on its payroll,” some local parents alleged.
This staffing shortfall has resulted in the headmaster of a neighbouring high school doubling up as the college’s acting principal. Efforts by both parents and students to address this issue have been met with inaction from local authorities, the locals rued.
Rengali college has only three staff including a librarian, a peon, and a watchman.
The college founded at project site in 1983
According to sources, the government college, founded in 1983 in conjunction with the Rengali Dam Project to serve the families of project workers and nearby panchayats, boasts of modern classrooms and well-preserved buildings. However, these facilities are allegedly of little use due to the acute shortage of teaching staff. The college now draws a significant number of students from a broader area encompassing about 15 panchayats.
As teachers have retired, the vacant positions have gone unfilled. However, attempts to hire temporary lecturers have been insufficient to meet the academic needs of students. With no appointed principal of the college, the responsibility has unofficially fallen to the local high school’s headmaster.
Parents and students are hopeful for an effective response from the Education Department, following a recent letter from the Water Resources Department, which currently oversees the college, advocating for the institution’s management to be formally transferred. This transfer has been stalled for over two decades, despite several government assurances.
Pallahara MLA Ashok Kumar Mohanty acknowledged that transfer to the Education Department has long been on the agenda, though progress in this regard has been very little. There is a collective desire among stakeholders for a swift resolution to bring back normalcy to the college, prioritizing the welfare of locals and the education of the students.
“We do not have lecturers, and a few guest faculties are only teaching us. They are engaged temporarily for a period from July to February. We are very much perturbed by the staff crunch as our future and career are in the doldrums,” students of the college, Dharitri Pradhan and Anil Bankira including several others expressed to OTV.
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“We are not getting library and practical support. In the absence of sufficient faculties, we are unable to clear our doubts and hence facing utter difficulties,” the students added.
Reported By: Rajanikanta Maharana
