[ Karda Natam ]
DAPORIJO, 19 Jul: The government higher secondary school (GHSS) here in Upper Subansiri district has been functioning without teachers for many years, but the government authorities have not paid any attention, despite having been apprised of the school’s grievances several times.
Presently, the school does not have subject teachers for history, geography, Hindi, and business study. The arts stream students are the worst sufferers.
Last year, during Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s visit to inaugurate the new building of the GHSS, the school authority had informed him about the shortage of subject teachers and had appealed for immediate posting of the required teachers, but no steps have been taken yet.
Also, there is the problem of overcrowding in the classrooms. In one of the classes, there are 785 students, which is against the government’s education policy.
A student said that, due to the large crowd of students in one classroom, the students at the back cannot properly hear the teachers during classes. “This diverts the students’ concentration and they lose interest in studies,” the student said.
Further, the students have to walk long distances (at least 5 kms) from the outskirts of the town to reach the school. However, no teacher comes to take classes, despite the students waiting in the classrooms for hours.
The students have termed the lack of subject teachers, especially in the humanities stream, as the most urgent problem.
They have appealed to the state government to “immediately depute subject teachers for the welfare of the student community” as they need quality education.
The school’s principal said that the government has been apprised of the lack of subject teachers in the school over the last two years. He also agreed that overcrowding of students in the classrooms has become a big burden for the teachers.
