Flood of troubles for ‘teacherless’ schools

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 21

Students at Government Primary School, Mehrajwala, in Lohian block of the district have been badly affected ever since floods ravaged the area.

For almost the entire month since August 19, when flood waters gushed in, the school remained shut. Now that the children have started coming regularly again, the absence of teachers has made it difficult for them to cover the syllabus properly.

A teacher from surrounding schools comes here on deputation on a weekly basis according to a roster. There are 13 students in the school. The situation prevails not just in this school at Mehrajwala but also at Kamaalpur in the same block where there are 28 students. This school also does not have a teacher. Here too, the teachers are deputed on a monthly basis.

In the Lohian block, there are as many as 12 schools where there are no regular teachers. The other ten schools have an Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) volunteer each. Officials say the EGS volunteers are not considered as teachers and these schools are therefore virtually ‘teacherless’. ETT-cleared EGS volunteers earn Rs 6,000 per month while a non-ETT volunteer is paid a meagre amount of Rs 3,500.

The ten government primary schools (GPS) in Lohian without regular teachers are at Yusufpur Darewal with a strength of 61 students, at Mandala with 54 students, Kalu Mundi with 42 students, GPS Kutbewal with 20 students besides GPS Har Bhoop Singh, GPS Gatti Raipur, GPS Sardarwala, GPS Chakk Pipli, GPS Motipur and GPS Mehmuwal Mahla.

27 schools with just one teacher in Lohian block

As many as 27 schools in Lohian block have a single teacher. Sources said due to shortage of teachers in the entire block, it is difficult to spare and depute staff in ‘teacherless’ schools. Also, teachers in the area cannot even easily take leave as it then becomes difficult to arrange staff for other schools.

The teachers, who are sent on deputation, said students in both the schools suffer in such a situation. “It is not easy to deal with the students where there are no regular teachers because when teachers keep on shuffling, neither the students nor the teachers develop connectivity. Also, it becomes difficult to understand the level of the students, which is why the problem arises,” said a teacher on deputation to one of these schools.

In Shahkot-I block too, there are three schools - GPS Chak Chela has 40 students, GPS Patto Khurd has 12 and GPS Rajewal Khurd, where there are no regular teachers.

District Education Officer (DEO) Rampal Saini said, “The department is aware of the problem. Owing to some transfers and promotions in the past, a few blocks in the district have been facing a staff shortage. But after rationalisation and recruitment, the problem will be resolved.”