HYDERABAD : “My brother goes to school, why not me? My brother reads and writes, why not me?...”
The students of a Mandal Parishad Primary School (MPPS) in a remote village of Rangareddy district were singing in unison. Among the many reasons for their plaintive query, the most noteworthy would be that their only remaining teacher is likely to spend their time attending meetings, compiling school reports or fulfilling election duties, leaving no time to teach them.
The situation is the same for around 5.5 lakh children enrolled in 1,320 zero-teacher schools, 6,392 single-teacher schools and 8,886 two-teacher schools across Telangana, according to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data for 2021-22.
The MPPS in Rangareddy is situated in a village with a population of around 500 people, mostly belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Despite the school having only one restroom, two compact classrooms and five active classes, it accommodates over 65 students, all under the guidance of two teachers.
When TNIE visited the school, one of the teachers was away attending a school complex meeting, leaving the other to manage five classes alone. With students of classes 1 and 2 in a single classroom, the teacher asked them to recite songs and poems before going to teach students from classes 3 to 5 in another room.
Students of Class 3 were asked to solve mathematics problems. Class 4 was having their Telugu language period as Class 5 pupils were asked to read a chapter from the social science book. With no teacher to monitor them, hardly any students had finished their work.
Students of classes 1 and 2 have three subjects, while the remaining have four subjects. “I have to teach 18 different subjects in a single day sometimes. This apart, there are subjects such as General Knowledge and co-curricular activities like sports,” the teacher said.
To address the issue of shortage of teachers, the government has told schools to implement multi-grade teaching. However, even that can’t be implemented properly as students need constant guidance, they added.
After assigning some work to the students to finish a pending school report, the teacher said, “I have been pulled up before for incomplete work. However, half of my mind is always engaged in teaching students.”
With no sweeper to keep the school clean, the authorities are often compelled to request a local gram panchayat member to do the job. Adding to the problems, the toilets often get clogged and the students are forced to go ‘outside‘ to relieve themselves, exposing themselves to the risk of being bitten by snakes.
Once a week, they take up the task of cleaning the school surroundings. “We will face suspension if we post photos of this cleaning activity on any social media platform,” they said.
The situation is worse in another single-teacher school in the same mandal. Out of 23 students, only 15 were present on the day that TNIE visited. By afternoon, when the lone teacher returned from a school meeting, most of the students had already gone home. In a classroom accommodating students from classes 1 to 5, they were engaged in learning a lesson, titled ‘What is a tree?’ from the Class 4 textbook. Among the four classrooms available, one was utilised for Anganwadi, and the other two were allocated for gram panchayat activities.
She manages 57 students
Single teachers are the norm in 14% of the state schools. However, the number goes up to 30% when only government primary schools are considered. Of the 859 single-teacher schools across urban areas in Telangana, there are 156 in the state capital, Hyderabad, while there are an additional 180 two-teacher schools in the city.
Bheemeshwari A never imagined that she would ever assume the role of an in-charge headmaster and independently oversee an entire school when she entered the teaching profession in 2019. The Government Primary School in Borabanda, Hyderabad, has been her sole workplace. Managing 57 children this year proved to be more challenging, especially as she has a newborn awaiting her at home.
During her maternity leave, which concluded in November, a teacher deputed from nearby schools took charge in her absence. However, there were instances when these schools faced a shortage of teachers and couldn’t provide a substitute. This posed a significant hurdle for the Badi Bata (enrolment drive) programme during the commencement of the academic year. Consequently, the school witnessed only six-seven new enrolments in the first grade this year.
Amidst a whirlwind of non-teaching responsibilities such as paper checking, bank visits, meetings at mandal offices, filing reports, election duties and parent-teacher meetings, Bheemeshwari hardly finds any time to teach. Suchismita, a fellow assigned by Teach for India, has stepped in to help. However, Suchismita, from Kolkata, faces challenges in managing the class due to the language barrier and diverse age group of the students.
“Managing the class becomes challenging when pupils of different age groups are brought together. Students of Class 1 behave differently from their Class 4 counterparts,” she said.
If a teacher falls sick, the situation only gets worse. In such situations, Suchismita has to also look after the kids, making her job of teaching multiple subjects simultaneously challenging. “It then becomes tough to bridge that gap,” she added.
In a multi-grade setting, the teachers are asked to assign some work to one class and teach the other. However, Suchismita said, “Expecting all students of one grade to work independently is unrealistic. Even if work has been assigned, some students may not have started, while others might struggle due to skill and understanding issues. Peer learning helps to some extent, but willingness varies among students.”
For a school with 30 students, the government gives Rs 25,000 per year to meet expenses. Government Primary School, Borabanda receives the same though it has more students. Of the total, Rs 22,000 is earmarked for the school helper’s wages. With little to no funds left for operating costs, it has to depend on donations to run the school.
As there are no compound walls or security measures in place, the school premises have become a meeting spot for the local tipplers. After every long holiday, piles of empty liquor bottles need to be cleared.
Vacancies yet to be filled
Even if they have more than one teacher, a majority of the schools in Telangana do not have separate teachers for each class. The schools may fulfil the requirement of having 1:30 teacher-pupil ratio as per the Right to Education Act, but education experts feel that it’s not enough.
“Telangana has 22,000 vacant posts of teachers in all cadres,” said Chava Ravi, state secretary of the United Teachers Federation (TSUTF).
Most of these schools have no students as well. By any chance, if kids are enrolled, a teacher from neighbouring villages will visit it once or twice a week to teach, he added.
Telangana has attained the lowest grade in the Performance Grading Index (PGI). While the education department has been implementing measures to improve its position by introducing Mana Ooru Mana Badi, the Unnati learning improvement programme and Foundation Literacy and Numeracy courses, the existing teachers are bearing the brunt of work due to staff shortage compromising the teaching outcomes.
The last notification for the recruitment of teachers was issued in 2017 for about 8,792 posts as against 16,000 vacancies. Recently, the Directorate of School Education issued a notification for recruitment of 5,089 teachers.
“The [previous] government said that only need-based recruitments are being done to meet the criteria of teacher-pupil ratio which is 1:18 in primary schools and 1:21 in high schools. So the remaining 16,911 posts were considered surplus,” Ravi said. “When there are no teachers in more than 1,300 schools, why would parents enrol their kids,” he asked.
14% of schools have single teachers
Single teachers are the norm in 14% of the state schools. However, the number goes up to 30% when only government primary schools are considered. Of the 859 single-teacher schools across urban areas in Telangana, there are 156 in the state capital, Hyderabad, while there are an additional 180 two-teacher schools in the city. To address the issue of the shortage of teachers, the government has told schools to implement multi-grade teaching. However, even that can’t be implemented properly as students need constant guidance