JAMMU: The State Education Department has deployed at least six teachers for every student in two Government High schools located within a distance of less than one kilometer m in the heart of old Jammu city.
Majority of these teachers have been serving in the city’s heart centre at the behest of their proximity to powers be at the helm of affairs at different layers of the State administration. On the other hand, a large number of government schools, located in the periphery of Jammu, are deprived of adequate teaching staff.
The glaring truth has come to light after trouble started over the issue of relocating Government Girls High School, City Chowk to another nearest school as the State government had decided to demolish the high school to make way for under construction parking slot in the area.
As the students along with their parents came out on streets and launched a protest, the opposition parties of Jammu too jumped in the campaign and cornered the State government. In this political tug of war the politicians and other higher ups ignored the real cause of poor performance of the government schools.
According to official sources, for an approximate number of 334 students, 55 teachers have been deployed in these two respective schools in the city. As many as, 33 school teachers were posted in High school, City Chowk for 208 students while 22 teachers were posted in Dogra Hall High school for 134 students. In City Chowk High School only 9 students are enrolled in class 10th and 31 in class 9 while 14 in class 7th and 29 in class 8th. While the State government faced tough questions from parents and opposition parties, the School Education Department struggled to make arrangements to relocate students from the City Chowk Girls High School. Initially, they were directed to report at High School Dogra Chowk, less than one kilometer away from City Chowk but the parents raised valid issue of sending their children on foot due to blockage of road outside Civil Secretariat complex and high traffic on the route.
On Tuesday, the State Education Department officials were directed by the higher authorities to work out the logistics to shift them to Central Basic School or Purani Mandi High School.
According to Director School Education Jammu, Babila Rakwal “Clubbing of Government Girls High School City Chowk and Government Girls High School Dogra Hall Jammu is a part of the same process.”
She said the clubbing of these two schools is in no way going to affect the studies of the students since the students will be taught by the same teachers and thereby maintaining the continuity. “Also sufficient teachers will be available to run the remedial classes/evening classes thereby benefiting the students of 9th and 10th classes of both the schools,” she said and added that the students have also the option to going to Central Basic, HSS, Purani Mandi Jammu or any other school in the vicinity.
She said given the disproportionate teacher: pupil ratio, the Government decided that from the next year, the classes of 9th and 10th of GGHS Dogra Hall shall be shifted to Government Sri Ranbir Memorial Higher Secondary School, Jammu and the Government Girls High School, Dogra Hall will be converted to that of a Model Elementary School while the surplus teaching staff shall be rationalized and deployed in the peripheral schools where there is acute shortage.
She said the recommendations were made by a Committee of officers headed by DSEK and comprising Chief Education Officer, Jammu, Deputy CEO, Jammu, Principal, SRML, HSS, Jammu who is also the cluster head of Government Girls HS Dogra Hall, GGHS City Chowk, HS Kachi Chawni and MS Tangewali Gali, Headmaster, GGHS City Chowk and Senior Teacher Incharge of GGHS Dogra Hall.
The Committee visited the school along with the staff and recommended that shifting of students from Government Girls High School City Chowk will ensure increase in class strength to a more optimum level.
Pertinently, the Education Department has already brought around 3,000 schools in the State under rationalisation process with 331 such schools having been co-located in Jammu district.