Over two months after the school began offering Plus Two education, in the wake of an eight-day hunger strike by female students, the Government High School Gothra Tappa Dahina in Rewari’s Gothra village was once again at the centre of a row Monday morning, with students staging a demonstration to draw attention of the authorities to the dearth of teachers.
Suresh Chauhan, sarpanch of the village, confirmed: “Yesterday (Sunday) evening, some parents came to me and said that they were worried about the education of their daughters since there are not enough teachers at the school. I had met the Deputy Commissioner only 10 days ago, and he had assured me that the problem would be resolved in a couple of weeks. I communicated the same to them, but they decided to take matters into their own hands and started planning a demonstration for this morning.”
The school has sanctioned posts for 21 teachers. Before it was extended to a Plus Two institution, it had only eight teachers. With the addition of two grades, however, the number of teachers has, instead of increasing, gone down.
“At that time, students and parents had been assured that more teachers would be added, and a principal would also be allotted. Instead, ever since the school became a Plus Two institution in May, four more teachers have left,” said Chauhan. The demonstration began at 7 am, with students and parents locking the school gate and declaring an indefinite dharna. By noon, however, the protest was called off after the Deputy Commissioner offered reassurance that their issue was being considered and would be resolved by July 27.
“If the issue is not solved by then, and more teachers have not been allotted, the students have made it clear they will resume the strike,” said Chauhan. The Deputy Commissioner as well as the District Education Officer did not respond to messages and phone calls.
The school had also been in news in May, when 86 girls went on a strike, with 13 extending their protest to a hunger strike, demanding that they be provided education up to Class XII at the school, instead of up to Class X.
The girls had, at the time, said that it was necessary for them to continue their education in a safe environment since, otherwise, they would have to travel to neighboring villages to pursue their studies, and the long commutes raised the risk of them getting harassed.
