Senior Congress leader and former Minister Sk Matlub Ali on Monday came down heavily on the BJD Government over vacancy of 36,000 teacher posts in Government elementary schools across Odisha, causing a sorry state of education.
Addressing a Press conference here, Alli said the posts of teachers are lying vacant for years and the State Government is not keen to appoint teachers and fill up the vacancies though the pass percentage in the OTET has improved from 12 per cent to 34 per cent.
He said only 8,934 teachers have been appointed against the vacancy of 36,000 posts under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) recently. He told that the pupil-teacher ratio of 35:1 as prescribed in the Right to Education Act is not maintained in schools across the State.
However, the appointments made are very less compared to the large scale vacancies in almost all levels of teaching and education administration posts. As many as 1,917 primary schools in the State are being run by single teachers while around 2,558 teacher posts in science and mathematics lie vacant for years.
“It is very difficult to manage five classes by a single or two teachers. They not only have to take classes but also do other non-academic works like managing mid-day meal (MDM), administrative works, training and so on. This has been certainly affecting the quality of education,” said the Congress leader.
He further alleged that while all schools in Bhubaneswar have no vacancies at all and some schools have more teachers than required, in rural areas, schools are run by one or two teachers for years. After noticing that nothing is being taught in schools and children are going and playing throughout the day in the absence of teachers, Ali alleged.