Ludhiana: With no political science teacher, exam anxiety peaks among students

Since December 2022, when the sole political science lecturer retired, the school has failed to fill the vacant position, leaving the students without a replacement for an entire year

With exam time nearing, nearly 300 students of classes 11 and 12 pursuing humanities at the Government Senior Secondary School located on the PAU campus here are left in the lurch as there is no one to teach the political science subject for the last one year.

With no political science teacher, exam anxiety peaks among students at Government Senior Secondary School located on the PAU campus in Ludhiana. (ht)

Since December 2022, when the sole political science lecturer retired, the school has failed to fill the vacant position, leaving the students without a replacement for an entire year.

A group of class 12 students, speaking anonymously, expressed their concerns, stating, “The school has not provided a replacement in the past year. For three months, a teacher undergoing B.ed training was assigned here from September to November. She merely came and read the chapters without explaining the concepts. With board exams approaching, we are relying on previous year’s question papers that we will cram just to achieve passing marks.”

The students further claimed that a significant number of political science lectures went unattended by any teacher, forcing them to engage in self-study or revise other subjects during those periods.

Another student, aspiring to pursue political science in college, said, “Understanding the basics is crucial for my future in law or civil services, but in these conditions, I don’t think it will be clear. Being in a Punjabi medium, finding online content in Punjabi is also difficult, posing an additional disadvantage.”

However, school principal Balwinder Kaur refuted the claims.

She said that despite the absence of the lecturer, they arranged for a teacher in training as part of her B.ed, and subsequently, the school librarian, who is also a political science graduate, is now conducting their lectures.

“As per the norms, any teacher who has graduated with political science can teach students of classes 11 and 12. Initially, a B.ed teacher conducted their classes, and now the school librarian, who is also a political science graduate, is taking their classes. We did not compel the students to take political science, and they were informed in advance about the absence of the concerned lecturer,” she clarified.