Staff crunch: Villagers lock Nabha smart school

PATIALA: Panchayat members and residents of five villages locked a government school in Nabha division near here on Wednesday over the district administration and state government not filling vacant posts of teachers there.

Located in Chintawala village, the school was recently upgraded to a smart school. On Wednesday sarpanches of Chintawala and neighbouring Alipur, Himmatpura, Faizgarh and Sanundgarh villages protested outside the school and then locked it from outside, after asking students and staff to leave.

They said the lock would be opened only after the government filled vacant posts of teachers.

Ten posts of faculty members, including those of Punjabi and History lecturers, are vacant at the school which has a strength of 400 students. At present, 12 teachers are employed at the school.

Even staff posted at the school are tired of the shortage of manpower. School principal Bahadur Singh claimed that many a time one teacher had to manage two classes together.

Government Senior Secondary School, Chintawala was declared a smart school in March this year. The school had a poor result in the last exams as its pass percentage was 55%.

Jaspal Singh, a villager who led the protest, claimed that students had become the prime sufferers of the negligence of the state government. “Private schools are flourishing, while government schools are deteriorating. Students here are failing as there are no teachers. What will these children do when they grow up? They will all face unemployment. We will not let this open until vacant posts of teachers are filled,” he said.

Patiala district education officer Kamal Kumari could not be contacted for comment. However, the principal said the lack of staff meant not only results, but fewer students. “Two years ago, we had 450 children on our rolls. Now, the is 400. This year, 25 students have left the school. The prime reason is shortage of faculty. Also, we lack teachers of mathematics, Punjabi, science, physical education, and arts and crafts,” he said.