Kurnool: The goal was a lofty one. To provide quality education to rural students on par with Kendriya Vidyalayas. With this noble purpose in mind, the government ambitiously launched Model Schools with English as a medium of instruction in 2013.
About 35 schools have been given to Kurnool district. The cost of constructing each school is Rs 3.02 crore. The central government had granted 75 per cent of the funds in 2011 and asked the state government to pitch in with the remaining 25 per cent. However, now the total maintenance is being borne only by the state government.
As the government is not releasing funds, these schools are unable to sustain the basic amenities, like drinking water, cleanliness and adequate faculty to teach all the subjects. Even after completion of three academic years, the situation remains the same in almost all the model schools.
According to the records available with the Rashtriya Mandyamika Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA) department, there are 35 model schools in the district.
While their total students’ strength is 17,920, all of them are from rural and remote areas. There are 640 teachers, including principals and staff who are being paid on an hourly basis. There is a requirement for nearly 300 teachers and another 300 non-teaching staff for new posts in the district.
One of the principals of a model school in the district told Deccan Chronicle that the principals were trying to convince the teachers in their schools to teach at least one extra subject in addition to their allotted subjects, because of staff shortage. This situation prevails not only in his school, but across the district which has put students in a state of confusion, he added. The principal was worried that if the same situation continues for a few more days, students might start leaving the schools.
A teacher from Maddikera (East) Model School said, “We have not yet started Commerce classes for Intermediate first year as there is no teacher to teach that subject.” Other schools are forced to make do with teachers of other subjects teaching a particular subject.
A teacher in Guduru mandal, who teaches Social, was made to teach mathematics, and in another model school in Aspari mandal, a Botany teacher was made to teach Physics because the school education department failed to recruit the required staff.
In Alur mandal model school, there is no teacher for Telugu. Almost all model schools in the district have no adequate subject teachers for both sections like school and college.
College sections in particular don’t have adequate teaching faculty for subjects like Commerce, Physics, Chemistry and Economics. There is a need for lecturers in various groups – 10 for Commerce, 8 for Physics, 10 for Chemistry, 12 for Economics and at least 8 for mathematics at all model schools.
Very often you have the Physical Director (PT master) and data entry operator (computer operator) who are employed on an out sourcing basis, turn into teaching faculty at various schools due to lack of subject teachers.
