No math, science teachers, all students fail in Class X exam
Not a single student has passed the Class X exam at Government Senior Secondary School, Charna, in Sirmaur district. Out of the total 21 students, who appeared for the exam, 17 failed in multiple subjects while four in one subject.
Bhupinder Verma, chairman of the School Management Committee, blamed the abysmal result on the lack of staff. “For the last three years, we do not have a science teacher. And for the last two years, there’s no maths teacher. All students have failed in mathematics and many in science,” said Verma.
Incidentally, it’s not the only school where the entire class has failed to clear the exam. At Government Senior Secondary School, Salgran, in the Lahaul and Spiti district, there were three students in Plus II and all three have failed despite four teachers in the school. Besides, all six students in GSSS, Dhar Pouta, which falls in the gram panchayat of Education Minister Rohit Thakur, have failed in Class X. A maths teacher from this school is on study leave for over one year.
While admitting that such dismal results, though isolated, pose a challenge to the education department, Rakesh Kanwar, Secretary Education, points out that the overall results of the government schools have shown improvement. The pass percentage of Class XII has improved from 74.5 per cent in 2024 to 83.16 per cent this year, while it has gone up from 74.6 per cent last year to 79.8 per cent in Class X. “We are analysing the results and corrective measures, including action against the teachers who have failed to produce the desired results, will be taken,” he said.
The bigger problem, however, is not having teachers at several schools. It’s unfortunate that the government and the department could not appoint a maths and a science teacher at GSSS, Charna, where all 21 students have failed. “We had sent several requests to the government and the department but we did not get the teachers. Students have lost one year, and they are so disappointed that they are not ready to go to school,” said Verma.
Irrational deployment and politics in transfer of teachers is seen as the biggest reason for poor results in some pockets, especially in rural areas. As part of the rationalisation process, the government had transferred over 400 TGT teachers, who were surplus at the place of their posting, a while back to the schools which were understaffed. However, the decision had to be withdrawn under political pressure as teachers are a big pressure group in the politics of the state. “The government is mulling a transfer policy to address this issue,” said Kanwar.
