JAJPUR: Irked over the absence of Sanskrit teacher, Class IX students of a government-run school in the district expressed their displeasure on the answer sheets during a test on the subject on Saturday.
Appearing the Sanskrit test as part of their half-yearly examination, the students of Prahalad Chandra Brahmachari High School at Adanga under Jajpur block wrote, “We don’t have a Sanskrit teacher. We have written whatever we know. Kindly don’t expect too much from us.”
At least 95 students took the Sanskrit test on Saturday. Most of them lodged their protest over lack of teacher on their answer sheets.Sources said not a single class in Sanskrit has been held in the school for the last five months due to absence of a teacher in the subject. A student on the condition of anonymity said, “We have not been taught Sanskrit since the commencement of classes. So how will we write the answers?”
Notably, the Sanskrit teacher and a trained graduate teacher of Prahalad Chandra Brahmachari high school were transferred to other schools over administrative reasons six months back. The school reopened in June this year and since then, classes in Sanskrit, History and Geography have not been held.
Rabindranath Kar, aguardian, said the state government transformed the high school under the 5T initiative but failed to provide teachers in Sanskrit, History and Geography. As these teacher posts are lying vacant, students of Classes IX and X have not been taught anything in these subjects. “If teachers are not provided soon, students of Class IX and X will suffer the most as the annual examination is nearing,” he added.
Earlier, the local sarpanch and the school managing committee (SMC) had met the Jajpur collector and district education officer (DEO) over the vacant teacher posts. However, no step was taken.Contacted, Jajpur DEO Nibedita Pani pleaded ignorance of the matter. “I am unaware of any such incident. I will conduct an inquiry and let you know,” Pani added.