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NE�s first Govt school is now nobody�s child

By Rituraj Borthakur

GUWAHATI, Sept 13 - It is north-east India�s first government school and is located in the heart of the capital city. But that has not helped Cotton Collegiate Government HS School to attract government attention.

Located at Panbazar, the institution, which boasts of a glorious past, is currently running without a single commerce faculty, even after more than a year of introduction of the stream.

Eight students were enrolled in the commerce stream of the institution in its inaugural year, while 32 students were admitted this year.

A teacher from Silchar was attached to the Cotton Collegiate years back and he is conducting a few classes in the commerce stream. Though a commerce post-graduate, the attached teacher was originally from the vocational stream. Another teacher, appointed under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan as a �retail� subject teacher in the secondary section of the institution, is conducting classes of accountancy, sources at the institution told The Assam Tribune.

The school management admitted that the institution urgently needs specialised teachers in subjects like economics, banking and mathematics to ensure that the students do not suffer.

The management of the school has been frequently taking up the matter with higher officials of the education department. �Though officials of the education department sympathise with us, no steps have been taken so far to recruit teachers, let alone upgrading the infrastructure,� the sources said.

Also, there is no subject teacher for chemistry and Hindi, besides demonstrators and bearers in the physics and biology departments. Two teachers were attached to the school from another institution for conducting chemistry and Hindi classes, but it is learnt that the classes are not regular.

The post of sweeper is lying vacant for eight months, while drinking water facilities in the campus are also not adequate, raising concerns of health and hygiene of the students.

Moreover, no full-fledged principal of the school has been appointed since 2013. The vice principal too is an �in-charge.�

Besides, students have also complained of lack of proper furniture in the classes and other rooms. The rear gate of the institution has been damaged badly, putting the security of students and teachers at risk.

Due to shortage of funds, the management is unable to pay the electricity bills regularly, and the outstanding amount has now reached Rs 1.40 lakh.

Set up in 1834, Cotton Collegiate is said to be the first government school of northeast India. The science stream was introduced in 1964. Around 800 students are currently studying in the institution.

The government had initiated a project to build an auditorium on the collegiate premises a few years back. This project too has been left half done with no progress being made on it for the last one and a half years.

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