RAHA, June 22 - A Government school at Saru Amri village under Laopani Gaon Panchayat in Nagaon-Karbi Anglong border area of Raha constituency is functioning with only one teacher. With shortage of teachers in the school, students are facing a difficult situation. There is only one lady teacher in the school, which does not have a headmaster against 120 students for several years.
Established in 2004, the school named Saru Amu Natun Prathamik Vidyalay, has all the required facilities. But there is only one teacher available to address the educational needs of over 120 students, from the first to fifth grade.
Talking to this correspondent, the parents of the students say that the authorities are well aware of the situation but are uninterested in solving it. They added that there is an abundance of school teachers in urban areas, but the authorities do not transfer them to the rural areas.
A student of fifth grade in the aforementioned school said there is only one teacher who teaches the whole school. She said due to the lack of attention and the high workload, the dropout ratio in the school is quite high.
Another student said that the school is in a rural area, and there is only one Government institution to cater to children from the loer income groups who cannot afford to pay fees of private schools.
The school managing committee has called upon the authorities and the Kapili Block Elementary Education Officer (BEEO), several times in this regard, but no action has yet been taken to solve the problem.
�If the present Government wants to strengthen education in the State at the grassroots level and promote literacy, the flaws in primary education must be addressed, and so also the vacant teaching posts and the missing facilities. Students are attracted to schools with the best possible facilities, some of the parents added.
When contacted, Prabhat Das, District Officer, Education department, Nagaon said that though he is not aware of the shortage of teachers at the school, he assured this correspondent that teachers will be arranged according to the requirements of the school on a war-footing.
