The lack of an adequate number of teachers has hit the beginning of the academic year in Medak district.
According to sources in the Education Department, as many as 100 schools have commenced their academic year without teachers. Out of them, 52 are Urdu medium schools and 48 are Telugu medium schools. At all these schools, teachers have been deployed after being shifted from other neighbouring schools so that the academic year is not hampered.
At some places, one or two teachers are forced to manage more than 100 students at a time. For example, in the Mandal Parishat New Upper Primary Schools (MPNUPS) located at Jarasangam and Kuppanagar, there are as many as 210 and 206 students respectively and only one teacher was forced to take care of them during school time. Authorities admit that as many as 935 teacher posts are still vacant in the district.
Getting qualified Vidya volunteers in Urdu medium schools has become a herculean task in many rural areas. They have to run the show with those who have qualified class X or even less.
“It’s not possible to find qualified educated youth to work as Vidya volunteers in areas like Narayanakhed, Zaheerabad and the surrounding areas. Hence, we have to take whoever is available with a little knowledge to teach primary classes,” said an officer in the Education Department.
It was alleged that complete payments were not for those who worked as Vidya volunteers in Urdu Medium schools last year forcing them to think twice before taking a decision to work as volunteers this year as well. On the other hand, in many places, Urdu medium students were forced to sit in Telugu medium schools as there were no teachers for them. “If we don’t make them sit in these schools, they may become dropouts, which will compound the problem further,” said a teacher from Zaheerabad.
