Teachers' shortage forces student to skip HSLC exam
Source: Chronicle News Service

Kangpokpi, April 12 2022: A student of Bishnulal High School, Charhajare in Kangpokpi district had appeared only in the English subject in the on-going HSLC exam and avoided all other subjects owing to shortage of teachers in the school.

The matter came to light when the flying squad of KSO Sadar Hills checked the examination attendance and inquired the headmaster as to why the said student had skipped all other subjects except English.

Speaking to the media, KSQ-SH president Hemin Kipgen informed that on learning about the incident he personally met the student and inquired as to why he skipped the examination after appearing only in English subject.

The boy told him that there are no teachers available in their school to teach subjects other than English and Hindi, so he decided to skip the rest fearing that he would not even score the pass mark.

On further inquiry, the KSO team found that what the boy had said was wholly true.

Six teachers under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) were posted at Bishnulal High School after it was upgraded from Junior High School.

However, out of the six, five teachers had already been transferred and utilised in other schools without replacement.

Apart from the RMSA teachers, three Science graduate teachers and two Arts graduate teachers were also transferred gradually from school without their replacement rendering the headmaster, to run the school with only one English teacher and two Hindi teachers.

According to the headmaster, Kharga Prasad Prasain, who is also the chairman of the School Management and Development Committee, the transfer began in 2018 and now the school is left with only three teachers, that too, without any LDC or data entry operator and peon, leaving him to do all the data entry double up as the peon.

Altogether, 10 teachers including five RMSA teachers have so far been transferred from the school including one utilised at TG Higher Secondary School, Imphal without any replacement.

Bishnulal High School was once one of the most flourishing institutions in the area with students from all communities studying in the school, but now the transfer of almost all the teachers has left the school in disarray, lamented the headmaster, who is retiring next year.

Kharga Prasad continued that the particular student who skipped the examination was none other than his close relative who has now left Manipur to be with his mother in Guwahati.

The headmaster also disclosed that due to the shortage of teachers, he had sought assistance of Navin Gorkha Youth Club which provided a few educated youths to teach the student without any honorarium.

Kharga Prasad added that he had also written to the Director of Education(S) last year requesting immediate necessary action and also sent a reminder recently, while informing the matter to the district student bodies for their intervention in the larger interest of the student community.

Meanwhile, KSO Sadar Hills expressed dismay over the pathetic condition of Bishnulal High School and asked the authority concerned io take the matter seriously with appropriate necessary action at the earliest by posting the required teachers and staff at the school.

KSO Sadar Hills held the education department responsible for the poor boy skipping the examination and expressed its concern for other students appearing in the examination.

The students' body then said that it will convene a joint meeting of all student bodies in the district to discuss the various issues related to education at the earliest and take stock of the situation in all the educational institutions to take a firm decision on Sadar Hills education which may include holding of Last Pay Certificate (LPC) and Service Book of any teacher transfer till his/her replacement is made accordingly.

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