CUTTACK: Even as the State government has asked the schools to conduct classes for a minimum of 100 days from January 8 to April 26 for Class X students, academic activities at government-run institutions across the district are in a disarray due to shortage of teachers.
As many as 469 posts of teachers are lying vacant since long in different high schools affecting the quality of education. While there are 476 government-run high schools in the district, 180 trained graduate Arts teachers, 32 CBZ (chemistry, botany, zoology) and 37 PCM (physics, chemistry, mathematics) teachers’ posts are lying vacant. Similarly, posts of 58 physical education teachers, 97 Hindi, 62 Sanskrit and three Urdu teachers are vacant.
The situation has gone bad to worse in 67 high schools where both PCM and CBZ posts are lying vacant. As a result, teachers of other disciplines are managing the affairs.The large-scale vacancy of teachers has crippled the teaching and learning of Class X students who are preparing for the upcoming High School Certificate (HSC) Examinations-2021.Adding to the woes, the post of district education officer (DEO) is also lying vacant affecting inspection and supervision activities.
Additional District Education Officer Sasmita Sahoo, who is in-charge of DEO, said in order to ensure 100 days of classroom study for Class X students, steps have been taken for appointment of guest teachers to overcome the crisis. “The process of appointment of guest teachers is on. Till date, we have appointed 190 guest teachers including 93 trained graduate Arts, 20 CBZ, 26 PCM, 33 Sanskrit and 18 Hindi teachers,” said Sahoo.
The retired and experienced teachers are being appointed as guest teachers who have been instructed to teach students for 20 days in a month with a consolidated pay of Rs 12,000, she added.