At a time when the State Government is facing the heat of the opposition parties in the Assembly over massive vacant positions of teachers in colleges and schools, the Odisha Human Rights Commission has served notices to the Higher Education and Mass Education Secretaries seeking their reply over the issue.
Acting on a complaint filed by Human Rights Watch secretary Sangita Swain, the commission last week has directed the two Secretaries to submit an action-taken report (ATR) within four weeks.
“Nearly 55,000 positions of teachers, lecturers and Professor are lying vacant in different schools, colleges and universities in the State since a long. The problem not only hits the education sector in backward districts but also institutes in major cities like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Brahmapur and Sambalpur also face the staff crunch issue,” the petitioner pointed out.
The petitioner alleged that student community in the State is being deprived of quality education due to due to lack of adequate faculties which simultaneously violates their human rights and right to education.
The petitioner urged the commission to take appropriate steps to fulfil the vacant positions in schools, colleges and universities. She also requested the commission to take legal action against those responsible for vacant positions.