Medak: Lack of teachers force parents, students to stage ‘rasta roko’

They said that the school needs at least eight teachers in addition to a headmaster

Medak: While the government was reiterating its commitment to improving the standards of education in the government sector, the commitment appears to be just in words not in reality. Vexed with the lack of sufficient teachers, the students and parents of Zilla Parishad High School Shalipeta village in Chinna Shankarampet mandal took to the road on Friday.

The students staged a rasta-roko blocking the traffic on the busy Ramaaympet road for a couple of hours. The students said that the strength in the high school came down to 144 this year which was more than 300 a couple of years ago due to lack of sufficient teachers. Even though the headmaster conducted the classes by roping in the services of the volunteers, the school had recorded a poor pass percentage in last year’s 10th board examinations as just 15 of 34 students passed.

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The students said that the school was upgraded from upper primary school to high school a few years ago, but it had never got sufficient teachers. The school had just 6 teachers against the allotted 11 teachers. The students further said that the school had two school assistant teachers, who were capable of teaching high school students, Mathematics and Telugu. The rest of the subjects are being taught only by the primary school teachers.

The students demanded the government appoint school assistant teachers to all the subjects apart from appointing a physical education teacher. Mandal Education Officer, Buchaiah Nayak said that he will certainly appoint sufficient teachers after the ongoing promotions and transfers of the teachers. However, students said that they would continue the protests until they get enough teachers. Meanwhile, the school had no separate toilets for students and teachers.

The teachers and students were forced to use the same toilets. The school had also no boundary wall and water connection. The students demanded the officials to provide all the facilities in the school.