Schools in border dists face staff crunch

Vikas Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jammu, March 23

Government schools in border districts of the Jammu region are grappling with unavailability of subject teachers.

Sources said the state-run schools were not only lacking teaching faculty at different levels but many teachers had also not joined in schools and this had adversely affected the academic functioning of the institutions.

They said the Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board (JKSSB) had advertised 2,154 posts of teacher for Jammu and Kashmir in 2017 but no post was advertised for Rajouri district.

The posts of teacher were also not advertised for Kathua, Ramban, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Leh and Kargil districts. More than 250 posts of master and  150 posts of lecturer are  also lying vacant.

The Chief Education Officer (CEO) admitted shortage of staff and reluctance of teachers to join duties, especially in schools near the Line of Control (LoC). “Yes, there is an issue of staff shortage in some of the schools in the district,” he said.

“I have already apprised the higher authorities of the actual requirement of teaching staff, including subject teachers,” Ashraf Rather, Chief Education Officer, Rajouri, said.

“In fact, instructions have already been issued to all heads of institutions and Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs) of the district to ensure that teaching staff is available in schools from the new academic session,” the CEOadded.

“The teachers who are reluctant to join duties in schools, especially near the Line of Control, will face action,” Rather said.

With a total of 1,493 government schools, the Poonch district is also confronted with similar issues.

Vijay Kumar Bhagat, CEO, Poonch, said the actual vacant posts of subject teachers in state-run schools were being figured out and would be filled after the completion of the process.

There are total 23,747 government schools in the state, including 11,495 in the Jammu province and 12,252 in the Kashmir division.

Teachers refuse to join duties

Sources said the state-run schools were not only lacking teaching faculty at different levels but many teachers had also not joined in schools and this had adversely affected the academic functioning of the institutions. They said the Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board had advertised 2,154 posts of teacher for J&K in 2017 but no post was advertised for Rajouri district