Students of different parts of the State are almost regularly holding agitation highlighting crisis of teachers in their respective schools. While crisis of teacher is an issue, so also transfer of a teacher.
Riddled with shortage of teachers, transfer of a teacher further depletes capacity if teaching staff and students come out of schools to hold protest, usually by blocking roads.
The crisis of teacher and transfer of a teacher from school led the guardians of the students of Agartala’s well known Umakanta Bengali Medium School to block the road on Sunday.
According to guardians, often classes were clubbed together due to shortage of teachers – the school in the Capital city of Tripura has only nine teachers and nine more teachers are required to run the school properly, instead of arranging more teachers, the Education department transferred one of the nine teachers.
“This is a gross injustice meted out to our lads”, alleged the aggrieved guardians. Venting anger at the Education department, guardians blocked the road near the school. The blockade forced the Chief Minister’s convoy to change route.
Later the agitating guardians and students of the school to meet Director of the Education department and submitted a deputation demanding repealing transfer order of the concerned school teacher. The guardians, in fact, gave an ultimatum that if the transfer order was not revoked within 24 hours, they would launch an intensified stir.
While, guardians of Umakanta Bengali Medium School grabbed the attention, students of at least two other places in rural areas also held protest agitation on the same issue – transfer of teachers amidst crisis on Saturday.
Students of sabroom Satchand Senior Basic School under Manu Bazar and Bhuratoli Higher Secondary School under Satchand block in South Tripura blocked road demanding withdrawal of transfer orders of teachers of respective schools.
In yet another similar in incident, students Karbuk English medium school under Gomati district blocked the Jatanbari-Karbuk road protesting against transfer of an English teacher.
In the wake rise in students’ agitation in the State on the issue teacher’s crisis, the Education Department needs to wake up and take effective steps to address the grievances, otherwise several reforms like introduction of NCERT Syallabus etc will prove to be futile, experts opined.