Sixty plus students at Punchappady school have 1 teacher

Mangalore Today News Network

Puttur, June 21, 2018: Two government schools at Punchappady in Savanoor of Puttur taluk are facing a shortage of teachers. The Punchappady Higher Primary School with a strength of 67 students has only one teacher while Kumaramangala Higher Primary School does not have a permanent teacher.

 

The Punchappady Higher Primary School is celebrating 90 years of its existence, this year. To commemorate the 90th anniversary, a classroom at a cost of Rs 4 lakh has been constructed with the help of SKDRDP. However, lack of teachers has dampened the spirit of the celebration.

As per the teacher-student ratio, the school should have at least three teachers. However, the school has only one teacher who shoulders the responsibility of a head teacher as well. Last year, two guest teachers were recruited. This year, guest teachers have not been recruited, so far. As a result, teacher Rashmitha Jain has to manage all the seven classes.

Majority of the students at Punchappady are from SC/ST community. The residents of Devasya Colony have been sending their children to Punchappady school, which is three kilometres away from the colony. The parents have expressed displeasure over lack of teachers in the school.

No action :   Despite repeated appeals to the Education Department to deploy teachers, no action has been initiated so far. If the authorities fail to appoint three teachers within a week, a protest will be staged in association with the SDMC members, warned Savanoor Gram Panchayat president Indira B K.

The situation in Kumaramangala Higher Primary School is no better. The school has 16 students without a permanent teacher.

Sources in Education department said that there are no additional teachers in the cluster to deploy them to Kumaramangala school. Guest teachers will be recruited.

If this is the case, how will they ensure quality, asks parents.

Taluk Panchayat vice president Rajeshwari said “I had appealed to the BEO thrice to deploy a teacher to the school. No action has been taken, so far.”