Berhampur: A seven-decades-old high school in the Silk City is witnessing poor turnout of students, allegedly due to the lack of adequate number of teachers, a report said. One may blame parents’ interest in sending their kids to private schools. However, one also has to keep in mind the government’s apathy and negligence towards improving the situation.
The Government Queen of the Mission High School was established in 1947. In spite of its comparatively better infrastructure like a mini stadium, basketball court and a science laboratory, the student turnout is not satisfactory. One of the primary reasons is the inadequate number of teachers in the school. It has been alleged that more than 50 per cent of the positions lie vacant till date.
Guardians have alleged that it has affected classroom teaching in the school. The school has many eminent alumni to boast of like Odisha Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro, Upendra Tripathy (IAS), M Akshaya (IPS), Dr Sanak Kumar Mishra (scientist) and Professor Dr Chittaranjan Kar.
Reports said that the school requires a minimum of 23 teachers to function smoothly, but at present there are only nine. This has been the case for the last two years. For example there are three positions for mathematics teachers, but only two have been appointed.
Similarly, there is no teacher for science subjects. Nine teachers are required for general subjects, but currently there are only four. All the three posts of teachers for IACT and MCT are lying vacant. The physical education teacher retired in March this year, but no new appointment has been made till date. There is only one teacher for Hindi and Sanskrit.
Guardians and students have alleged that if the problem continues then teaching of students from Class-VI to Class-X will be severely affected.
The school admitted 240 students for the 2020-21 academic session and 271 for the 2021-22 session. However, less than the 50 per cent of the total admissions are attending school on a regular basis.
Contacted, Headmaster Harekrushna Panda said that the process of transfer and appointment of teachers will start soon. He informed that new teachers will be appointed in the school within a month.
When asked about poor turnout of students, Panda pointed out that Covid-19 also has a part to play. He also blamed the present location of the school as one of the reasons leading to the poor turnout. He, however, expressed hope that the situation will improve and more students will start attending classes after improvement in the Covid situation in state.