Two teachers for 189 students:: Parents stage dharna in Kothagudem

Irked at the shortage of teachers, the students boycotted classes and staged a flash protest along with their parents.

Kothagudem: Students and their parents staged a dharna at Hanuman Basthi Government Primary School at Patha Kothagudem here on Tuesday over the lack of teachers in the school. They said there were just two teachers available for 189 students, with the third teacher going on leave.

The parents complained that since there were not enough teachers for the 189 students in the school, the students were lagging behind in their studies. Irked at the shortage of teachers, the students boycotted classes and staged a flash protest along with their parents. SFI activists also joined the protest.

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Speaking to the media, the locals E Praveen Kumar and Manda Vijay Kumar, whose children were studying in the school, complained that for the past several weeks classes were being conducted with just three teachers and on Tuesday there were only two teachers available as one teacher went on leave.

The students of two to three classes were made to sit in a single classroom and thus the students were not able to focus on studies. Even the mid-day meal was not served properly and the quality of curries and rice was not good, the parents alleged.

The teachers at the school told the protesting parents that the teachers strength was seven and four of them were sent to other schools on deputation and it led to the shortage of teachers.

The SFI activists and parents demanded the education department officials to take immediate steps to depute enough teachers so that the students’ education would not be affected.