Shortage of staff, classrooms plagues government schools in Faridabad

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, September 15

A total of 25 per cent of the teaching posts are lying vacant at 372 government schools in the district and there is also a shortage of classrooms, it is reported.

“A majority of the schools do not have adequate classrooms and unavailability of teachers for various subjects have resulted in a crisis,” said sources in the Education Department. Many schools are either operational in dilapidated buildings or have been functional with inadequate number of classrooms, claim the sources.

“All 11 classrooms at Government School in Sector 10, with 568 students on the roll, are in poor condition. The school needs at least 30 rooms given the strength and requirement of the school. It has already been upgraded to the senior-secondary level,” said Kailash Sharma, general secretary, All India Parents Association (AIPA).

Government School at NIT near Metro Mod, which has 1,200 students has only12 classrooms, said a teacher on the condition of anonymity.

He said classes were either held under a tin shed structure or in the open due to non-availability of the classrooms.The problem became serious during rainy seasons, he said.

Government Senior Secondary School at Gonchhi village, with a student strength of 3,000, has only 15 classrooms. Though the department has undertaken the work of constructing buildings or additional rooms at many schools, the problem is far from over,” said HS Birdi, district president, AIPA.

Similarly, the shortage of teaching staff of various subjects has adversely affected the quality of teaching, said the sources. While the high school at Junhera village has only two teachers for the students of classes VI to XII, there is no teacher for the subjects such as general science, physics, chemistry and biology for 700 students at Government School, Panhera Khurd village, said the reports. Recently, one chemistry teacher was deputed on a temporary basis after the villagers took up the matter with the local MLA. The post of science teacher for the middle school at Deeg village is lying vacant for long, it is added.

Blaming the transfer policy for the crisis, Bhim Singh, district president, Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh, said the posts of subjects such as maths and science needed to be filled up immediately.

“The issues of teaching staff shortage and paucity of classrooms have been brought to the notice of the higher authorities,” said an official of the Education Department. The post of the DEO is lying vacant.