❛7 teachers against 688 students❜
❑ No headmaster, office assistant, secretary, night watchman and nanny!
❑ Due to weak administrative system, the trouble of teenage gangs has increased around the school
Abul Kashem Ofik, Balaganj:
The educational activities of Balaganj Government Dwarkanath (DN) High School, the only government educational institution in Balaganj Upazila of Sylhet, are being disrupted due to teacher shortage. This is losing its almost century-old glory, and the students are in trouble. Parents are also worried as teaching at the school is being disrupted due to teacher shortage. The authorities in charge of the school are unable to say when this crisis will be resolved. The education system of the century-old institution is facing a shortage of necessary manpower.
According to the relevant sources, the educational institution established in 1946 was transferred to the government in 2018 after nationalization as per the property rules. Being the only government school in the upazila, the number of students is relatively high. In this, each class has to be divided into two branches for teaching. According to the school sources, 688 students are studying from class 6 to 10. There are 7 people working against 26 teaching posts. Since the post of head teacher is vacant, this educational institution, which has spread the light of education in the region in the past, is being run by a deputation. In addition, the post of night watchman in this school, which is facing a manpower crisis, is vacant, so the school’s facilities and valuable documents have become unsafe. There is 1 person in the other 5 auxiliary posts. Among them, the posts of office assistant, secretary, night watchman and nanny are vacant. Meanwhile, due to the weak administrative system, the trouble of juvenile gangs has increased around the school. Unexpected incidents are happening at various times over trivial matters. Parents and locals allege that the quality of education has been gradually declining since the nationalization of the school, which has been in a state of disrepair for a long time.
Several teachers, who did not want to be named, expressed deep concern and said, “Save the school, protect it, the educational life of thousands of students will be jeopardized due to the teacher shortage. The school cannot continue like this. The teachers who are working are also very old. If this continues, the future of the children is dark and uncertain.”
A parent named MA Muhith expressed deep concern about his son’s future. He said, “I got my son admitted to a government school with high hopes. Due to the teacher shortage, I am deeply worried about the quality of his son’s education. Older people can teach in private schools. Lower-middle class people like us cannot afford that. A parent named Masuk Mia said, “The current situation of the school is not at all pleasant for the students. Parents are deeply worried about the future education of the students due to the shortage of teachers.” Due to the vacancies of teachers in important subjects, students are not getting any benefit even after going to school. The influence of the Shishore gang is increasing.
When we spoke to some students of class 9 and 10 on condition of anonymity, they said, our school is the only government institution in Balaganj. Government schools have good and adequate teachers. They have regular teaching and necessary educational system facilities. Which our school does not have. The school is closed for 4 to 5 months out of 12 months for various reasons. The rest of the time, there are no regular classes due to teacher shortage. We are making a strong demand to the authorities to ensure the quality of education in the school.
Former students of the school, currently PhD researchers in South Korea, Rumel Ahmed, Mahfuzur Rahman Himel, Dr. Debabrataraj Uts, Dr. Tuhin Ahmed said, the school had a golden era during our time. The studies and results of this school were much better than the schools in other neighboring upazilas. Many things have changed with the times and the education system, but despite being a reputable school in this area, the teacher-student ratio is uneven, despite considerable infrastructural development, today this school is a generation behind due to the lack of teachers!
Upazila Secondary Academic Supervisor Atika Afroz said, this situation of such an old school with a teacher shortage is very sad. But after nationalization, the recruitment of teachers is not in our hands. We have informed the authorities in writing.
Acting Headmaster of the school Md. Saiful Islam said, we have been suffering from a shortage of teachers since the school was nationalized, as there are not enough teachers compared to the requirement, it is not possible to teach the students properly. We have already informed the Upazila Executive Officer and the Secondary Education Office in writing about the need for teachers. It is very difficult to run such a large educational institution with 7 teachers.
In this context, Upazila Upazila Executive Officer Sujit Kumar Chanda said, the concerned authorities have been informed in writing several times mentioning the issue of teacher demand.
Sylhet Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education and ICT) Md. Nurer Zaman Chowdhury said, “The UNO has informed me in writing. A letter has been sent to the Ministry of Education informing about the teacher shortage.”
