1 teacher for 298 students; Government Girls School in Silchar ruining lives

Soma Shyam, Principal of Government School is missing in action. The government servant who draws a salary from taxpayers’ money is not in her office on a Monday morning. Her colleagues are unaware of her whereabouts and so are her superiors in the education department.

Students of Government Girls Higher Secondary School have been protesting for more than a week. Their primary demand is to ensure that they have teachers for each subject and their secondary demand to the deputy commissioner of Cachar is to ensure action against principal Soma Shyam as she has racially, socially and economically abused them, their family members.

According to the allegations of the students, not one, not two, but the entire Arts stream – they do not have teachers to teach important subjects. So, when on December 1, they protested, their Principal abused them based on their standard of living. Students alleged that the Principal summoned them one at a time and started questioning about their family background.

“I said my father is a driver, she responded by saying send him to my home to drive my car. She was making fun of my family background. Another girl was summoned and she said her father is a cart-puller (Thela Chalan) and then principal madam mocked her by saying, (thela alar meye’r abar master laage),” asserted a student.

Today, most of them went to the deputy commissioner’s office with the intention to meet her. Initially, they were stopped by the police at the DC’s office. In charge of education, Dipak Jidung said that he is unaware of the chain of events. Inspector of schools, Cachar Sabina Yara Yasmin too said she is unaware of the misbehaviour.

“It is unfortunate that a principal of her stature did not hand overcharges to anyone and therefore, there is no record about her whereabouts. Secondly, I have not received any complaints about her misbehaviour, if I do, the matter will be probed and there is an immense need for her to rectify her behaviour towards the fellow beings as a human being first and then as a teacher,” said, inspector of schools, Sabina Yara Yasmin.

In the Arts stream, there are 180 students in the first year senior secondary and 118 Students in the second year of senior secondary. Astonishingly, there is one permanent teacher qualified to teach an elective subject like advance Hindi. There are two part-time teachers, one of them claims that she can teach all the subjects.

For the records, there are two posts for English, both are vacant. Then there is one post each for MIL Bengali, Political Science, Economics, History, Mathematics, Geography, Advance Bengali, Sanskri. The officer in charge of the school said all of these posts are vacant, at least since 2018, “It could be longer,” added the official.

This is the state of education in a government girls higher secondary school that too in a country where the prime minister says, “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao”.

Sharing her reaction in the matter, deputy commissioner of Cachar, Keerthi Jalli said, “We are enquiring into the alleged misbehaviour of headmistress.”

She added, “Vacancy of teachers is being taken up by the state to fill up at the earliest time. In meantime, we will explore options to attach teachers from nearby schools, if feasible.”

Students said that they are helpless and their life is getting ruined as they are not getting the proper education.