Khagrachhari colleges limp for shortage of teachers
Shortage of teachers badly hampers academic activities in colleges of Khagrachhari hill district.
During recent visits to Ramgarh Government Degree College and Khagrachhari Government College, this correspondent found that classes are not held regularly due to the problem.
With only five teachers against 21 posts, Ramgarh Government Degree College is struggling to cope with the responsibility to impart education to over six hundred students of HSC and degree levels, college officials said, adding that Bangla, economics and chemistry departments have been running without any teacher for the last three years.
Baishakhi Datta, an HSC first year science student of the college, said they did not get any class of chemistry although the first year is nearing end.
"During the two years of college life I did not get any class of management. As a result I did not write well in the subject," said Ukraching Marma, who attended the last HSC examinations from business studies group of the college.
"A total of 166 candidates attended the last HSC examinations but only 75 passed. Most of failures occurred in English, economics and chemistry as the classes were not held regularly due to teacher shortage," said Shahidul Islam, a student of degree second year of Bachelor of Business Studies.
He also completed his HSC from the same college.
Due to shortage of teachers college authorities managed the recent HSC examinations with the help of high school teachers, said Abdul Latif, vice principal of the college.
Admitting the situation, college Principal Prof Nur Nabi said, "We wrote to the higher authorities for solving the problem more than once but to no effect. Now it has become a challenging matter to continue academic activities at the institution."
In Khagrachhari Government College, there are only 22 teachers against the sanctioned posts of 44 persons to teach over two thousand students of HSC, degree and honours levels. The college opened honours studies in social science and political science two years ago and in history recently but there only one subject teacher in each of the departments, official records say.
Talking to this correspondent at the college ground during their English period, Hali Chakma and Ria Chakma, HSC second year students of business studies group, said they often pass English, Bangla and management periods gossiping as classes are not held regularly due to shortage of teachers.
"I am the only teacher in Bangla department against four posts to teach around two thousand students of HSC, degree and honours levels. In addition to classes, I have to do official work and so, it is not possible for me to cover all the classes different every day," said Fazlul Karim, assistant professor of Bangla department of the college.
Nomita Kheesha, mother of Boijonti Kheesha, a first year science student of the college, said they are worried about the future of their kids as the classes are not held regularly.
"Academic activities of the college are facing a serious setback due to the shortage of teachers. We wrote to the education ministry about the problem more than once but got no positive response," said Prof Dilip Kumar Das, principal of Khagrachhari Government College.
As many as 550 examinees attended the last HSC examinations from the college but only 332 of them passed.
Teacher shortage is a common problem for other colleges in the district too, said Bodhisatta Dewan, former principal of Khagrachhari Government College.
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