E-Paper
Government Multipurpose School in Ludhiana : One teacher keeping the boat afloat for 700 commerce stream students
Authorities from Government Multipurpose School, Ludhiana, maintain that until 2018, students in commerce would be inducted on a merit basis and for every 70-80 students, the school had 2 teachers. But following a change in government guidelines, the school started to admit all students who filled out the admission forms
The Government Multipurpose School, which not long ago drew eyeballs after topping the state with a record new student enrolment at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, has run into an acute shortage for teachers of the commerce stream.
The number of regular commerce teachers has come down to one, against the required strength of 19 to teach the nearly-700 students in Classes 11 and 12.
In the dire situation, the school has become dependent on the BEd students who take classes for around 4-5 months a year as a part of their mandatory teaching practice to complete the required syllabus.
Even the number of BEd students who teach students between May to November, however, ranges between 5 to 7 — certainly inadequate to teach the total of 10 commerce sections at the school.
School authorities maintain that until 2018, students in commerce would be inducted on a merit basis and for every 70-80 students, the school had 2 teachers. But following a change in government guidelines, the school started to admit all students who filled out the admission forms.
A teacher requesting anonymity said given the classes were being taken online during the pandemic, no practicals were held and the school somehow managed to cope. With the resumption of offline classes, the teacher said, it has become practically impossible to do justice to the students — adding that even with the BEd students putting in their best efforts, they cannot act as a replacement for regular teachers.
Adding that theoretical subjects such as e-business and modern office practices can be taught with teachers from other streams as well, but for practical subjects including accountancy and economics, specialisation is required.
The school, it would seem, has learnt to make do with the limited resources for the time being.
Highlighting the school’s good results even in the current scenario, Sanjay Gupta, who teaches commerce at the school, meanwhile, said “After covering the syllabus, I focus on taking biweekly and weekly tests so students can rectify their mistakes. All the students in the previous session passed with over 75% marks.”
School principal Navdeep Romana said parents are informed in advance about the teachers’ strength. She added that most parents still choose to enrol their children at the school, given their reputation of delivering on results, adding, “Our school is well-reputed for providing quality education. As the area is densely populated, a large number of students end up enrolling.”
Romana added that they have sent multiple requests to the education seeking the filling of vacant positions to no avail. The school currently has 99 teachers in total.
Parents’ quote**
Speaking of the process to fill in these positions, district education officer, Jaswinder Kaur said “The departmental procedure to fill the vacant posts is underway at the state level, after the promotions and new appointments the posts will be filled.”
Class 4 employees also down to 1
The school is also at a loss for Class 4 employees to perform cleaning, gardening, delivering mail and other such duties. Only one employee — Ajay Singh, who has a visual impairment performs the duties of a peon.
A teacher not wishing to be named said the school management committee has hired an employee for cleaning and other menial tasks, before adding that teachers cannot focus on imparting education if they are asked to perform a host of other duties simultaneously.
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Room for more?
The 147-year-old school, located near Lakkar Bazar and has 29 classrooms, hardly enough to accommodate its massive strength of 4,400 students.
The school started taking classes in two shifts after the number of students suddenly doubled in 2020, going up from 1,700 to over 3,527.
The first shift between 7.30 am to 12.30 pm sees around 2,500 Class 11 and 12 students attend commerce, science and vocational classes, while another 1,900 from Classes 6 to 10 as well as Class 11 and 12 humanities students attend lectures in the second shift.
