A protest over acute teacher shortage at a government school in Rajasthan's Jalore district boiled over on Tuesday, when angry students and villagers padlocked the main gate of the PM Shri Government Senior Secondary School in Mengalwa village, in the Sayla area, and launched a heated demonstration against the administration. Frustrated by months of stalled classes and no improvement in the situation, the students made it clear they were no longer willing to wait on empty promises.
25 posts sanctioned, only 7 teachers on the job
The students who locked the school and staged the protest say that a total of 25 teaching posts have been sanctioned for this PM Shri school to maintain proper education standards, but the ground reality is far removed from that number. As things stand, only 7 teachers are actually working against the 25 sanctioned posts. This handful of teachers is left carrying the entire burden of educating more than 350 students enrolled at the school. With staffing stretched this thin, classes for every subject are not being held regularly, and students preparing for board exams are not getting the guidance they need at the right time.
Not a single second grade teacher, a history teacher doubles as principal
During the protest, students laid out the school's dismal condition in front of the media. One student said angrily that the school does not have even a single second grade teacher. Only two first grade teachers are currently working there, one teaching Hindi and the other teaching History. The scale of the administrative mess becomes clear from the fact that the same History teacher has also been given additional charge of running the school as principal. Because he is tied up with administrative duties as principal, he barely gets time to actually teach, leaving the syllabus for his subjects badly incomplete.
Officials rush to the spot, but villagers no longer trust assurances
The protest completely disrupted the atmosphere on the school campus and brought regular classes to a total halt. As the situation worsened, Chief Block Education Officer Nemaram Chaudhary and ASI Rajaram reached the spot along with a heavy police contingent. The two officials held a long round of talks with the students and the angry villagers, assuring them that their demands would be passed on to senior officials soon and that the vacant posts would be filled. However, the villagers and students have made it clear that they no longer trust the education department's hollow assurances. They insist that their protest and the lockdown of the school gate will continue without a break until permanent teachers are appointed in sufficient numbers.
