Jagatsinghpur: Due to the decline in student attendance, many schools no longer have additional classrooms or sections. However, in some schools, teachers are still being appointed section-wise, raising concerns about whether any proper teacher rationalization policy exists in the district. It is unclear whether the District Education Department is aware of this. In some schools, more teachers than necessary are being appointed, and these teachers seem to be enjoying comfortable postings. A retired headmaster commented that to bring order, the government must implement new rules.
In the arts stream, two teachers are being appointed, while Sanskrit, Hindi, and physical education will each have one teacher. A headmaster will also be assigned. Hence, like primary and upper primary levels, teacher appointments in high schools should be based on actual student attendance.
Surprisingly, in some institutions, teachers are still working in classes IV and V, although these grades were supposed to be shifted or closed due to low student numbers. A retired, experienced headmaster pointed out that these teachers should have been transferred elsewhere.
In high schools, additional sections are supposed to be arranged if student strength exceeds 50. But currently, government high schools mostly lack extra sections. There were once about 17 high schools with such additional sections, but now they don’t exist. Despite this, extra teachers are still assigned as per old section-wise data. In two such high schools in Jagatsinghpur town, teachers are drawing salaries without much work. Previously, schools that had classes from IV to X now only have higher grades due to student shortages, resulting in the closure of classes IV and V.
In addition, over 65 schools in the district have merged, yet no proper restructuring of teaching staff has taken place. This mismatch has led to either surplus teachers in some schools or shortages in others. A few schools still have additional sections, but many others have lost them, and it’s unclear whether the district education department has proper records of this.
Due to the lack of monitoring, computers are lying unused or damaged. The teacher-to-student ratio is not being maintained in both primary and upper primary levels. For example, Shankareswar Upper Primary School has three more teachers than required, while Nilakantheswar Vidyamandir, with 128 students from grades 8 to 10, has only five teachers.
In many schools, there is a mismatch between subject demand and teacher availability. Some schools with a high number of students in Sanskrit and Hindi don’t have subject teachers, which defeats the goal of quality education. When asked about this inequality, District Education Officer Niranjan Behera stated that data has been collected on teacher and student numbers in each school, and based on this, teachers will be reappointed or transferred as needed.
The government has prescribed that there should be one teacher per 20 students in primary schools and one teacher per 30 students in upper primary schools. But in high schools, student numbers are not being considered properly, and schools are mandated to have two teachers each for science and mathematics, regardless of actual enrollment.
665 high schools lack permanent headmasters
Many high schools still don’t have permanent headmasters. Though 4–5 teachers may be drawing salaries from Jagatsinghpur district, they are actually working in other districts. Even after retirement of former staff, vacant posts are not being filled. Worryingly, no new appointments are made in block grant high schools after retirements, meaning those posts remain empty indefinitely.
Overall, teacher rationalization in the district appears to be in complete disarray. Government high schools, despite having science labs, do not conduct practical science examinations due to teacher shortages. Similarly, ICT or computer labs are nonfunctional, as no specific teachers have been appointed for them.
In summary:
There is no consistent system of teacher distribution.
Many schools have either surplus or insufficient teaching staff.
Student attendance data is not being effectively used to determine staffing.
Infrastructure like labs and ICT facilities remain unused or underutilized due to lack of staff.
The situation in 90 block grant schools is especially poor.
Effective policy intervention and transparent monitoring are urgently needed to address the imbalance and ensure quality education across the district.