Guwahati Schools Struggle with Classroom Shortage Amid Infrastructure Challenges

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The state government has been constructing new school buildings and renovating the old ones, yet the problem of additional classrooms still persists. And this lacking affects imparting education in the state.

According to official sources, the need for additional classrooms is around 14,000 from lower primary (LP) to higher secondary schools in the state. While the LP schools need 4,997 additional classrooms, upper primary schools need 2,164, high schools need 3,732, and higher secondary schools need 4,356 additional classrooms.

The department has been making efforts for funds from the central government. How long the need for additional classrooms will be fulfilled is uncertain. The ground reality remains that the state has hundreds of primary schools with single rooms accommodating five classes, with chaos becoming the order of the ambience.

Apart from this, the state has 13,613 primary schools and 3,402 high schools without permanent headmasters.

According to sources in the department, elementary schools have 17,754 vacant posts of teachers, 16,365 in high schools, 2,057 in higher secondary schools, and 353 teachers in technical education in the state.

According to sources, the lack of proper infrastructure and teachers has affected the primary schools most. It has its cascading effect in the bobbing up of private English-medium schools in the state, as parents seek alternative educational options for their children due to the inadequate number of teachers in public schools.

Also Read: SSA to organize Utsav Vidyarambha programme in schools from March 16