Teachers' crunch hits kallar schools

Lack of teachers in government schools run by the Kallar Reclamation Department is taking a toll on the students, whose prospects are becoming bleak day by day. According to sources, there are several vacancies that are to be filled for the post of teachers in various subjects. With the pass percentage in Madurai district coming down every year, the vacancies are only set to further dent the students' chance to score more marks. Students, especially those studying in the high and higher secondary schools have started fearing about their future as their education is at stake. At a time when their private school peers are undergoing special coaching apart from the classes in school, the Plus Two students of the Kallar Reclamation Department are allotted only one day in a week for a subject. Due to the staff crunch teachers are forced to take classes on a rotational basis. The schools under the department are run in Madurai, Dindigul and Theni districts. In total, 289 schools including 23 middle and 212 primary, are operated in the three districts. There are a total of 32 higher secondary and 22 high schools of which 16 high and 12 higher secondary schools are situated in Madurai district alone. There are 30,000 students including primary studying in three districts, of which 16,204 are in Madurai. The sanctioned postgraduate and undergraduate teachers' strength under the department is 107 and 417 respectively. Of these, 40 postgraduate and 76 undergraduate teachers' postings are vacant. What is more pathetic is the fact that 111 undergraduate and 33 postgraduate teachers working in the department have asked for transfer to other school education departments. Few days back, a group of students from Poosalapuram Kallar Reclamation School thronged the Madurai district collectorate and petitioned the collector. They also took the issue to the notice of C Amuthavalli, joint director of Kallar reclamation department. One of the students said, "We are allotted with one class per subject in a week as there are no permanent teachers available for higher secondary. We could not follow the topics as they resume after a week's gap. Moreover, only some important topics are covered instead of teaching all." "Students from other schools are far above us. Private schools would complete the whole portion in the first few months. They would continuously revise them afterwards. But we do not even have teachers. We already started fearing about the board examination which would determine our future," rued another student. When contacted, Amuthavalli admitted the severe teachers' crunch in the department. She said that she had been contacting her authorities frequently to fill the posts. Legal issues in court are preventing the government to conduct the teacher's recruitment board exam for fresh recruitment, she said.