HYDERABAD: After making headlines for turning away parents on account of surplus admissions coupled with space and workforce constraints, the Raj Bhavan Government School is now facing a problem of a different kind. In the recently-concluded teacher transfers, not one teacher opted for teaching at Raj Bhavan’s primary school and only two opted for its high school section. This has forced the District Education Officer to send 14 special teachers on deputation to the school - six for primary and eight for high school. In addition, another 30 Vidya Volunteers would also be deputed to the school by July 20 to ensure uninterrupted teaching to 1,245 students in the school - 620 in primary and 625 in High School.
Despite being located in the middle of the city and upgraded with facilities like digital classrooms, good infrastructure and safe drinking water - facilities that are generally not available in government schools - what is it that deterred teachers from opting for the school? The school, it appears, has fallen prey to its own popularity. Being the pet project of the Governor has resulted in the school being under constant scrutiny at all times from education department and even the district collector.
“Within a day of getting information about the teacher crunch, the DEO promptly conducted a three-and-half hour long meeting and appointed teachers on deputation. Why is the same attitude not being shown towards other schools like the Government School at NBT Nagar in Banjara Hills Road number 2, which has 1,300 students but no teachers post transfer?,” said a teacher requesting anonymity.
It may also be mentioned that only last year the school was converted from Telugu to English medium. However, in government records it continues to be a Telugu medium school. “As a result, the school was shown as an option only to Telugu teachers who obviously did not opt for it,” said a teacher, who was one of the five transferred from the primary school. Narra Manjulatha, principal of the primary school, said teachers also shy from schools that have a lot of students. “No one wants a big load of students and they want to move to schools which have fewer students,” she said.
Propaganda to malign school
Venkatramna Reddy, who teaches music to high school students of the school, said that some teachers were spreading false propaganda against the school regarding the tremendous work pressure here. “Pressure will be there in all jobs. Tell me which government school has facilities like this school? This year, our topper scored 9.8 CGPA and we have 75 per cent pass percentage which shows that teaching standards are good.”