In Himachal Pradesh, info tabled in assembly revealed various limitations in Government schools and colleges. According to the reports, more than 300 schools in the state have no access to electricity and also there are some schools which do not have any proper toilets.
There is also information which says that there are nearly 10,000 teaching and non-teaching staff lying vacant in the Government Senior Secondary Schools. The other posts also include 319 posts of Principals and 187 posts of science teachers.
According to a question that was raised by Chopal MLA Balbir Singh Verma, the reply was that there are a total of 103,314 posts out of which 16,000 posts are lying vacant in the primary, secondary and senior secondary government schools.
The reply to another question raised by Dalhousie MLA Asha Kumari was that there are about 1,800 vacant posts for physical education teachers and about 1,600 vacant posts for the drawing teachers in the state.
Other information also included that in the Nagarota Bagwan Constituency there are eight schools which do not even consist of toilets while the toilets of five other schools need repairs in the toilet. Also, in three high and senior secondary schools, there is a lack of proper rooms.
In the Rampur constituency, there are 11 secondary schools that are functioning without principals and six schools which are running without a headmaster.
The condition is such that there are five primary schools that do not have their own building and hence those schools are being operated from community centres and other such buildings. However, there are two senior secondary schools that are yet to start with the construction process.
The other reply in the session also threw light on the status of the Government colleges in the state. According to the reply, nearly 300 students of the Government college in Kaffota are facing problems as they do not have their own building and it has been three years since the construction of their own campus.
It was also mentioned that the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Dodra Kawar has 22 vacant posts which include the Principal and ten trade instructors.
However, in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Reckong Peo, there were six hostels that were sanctioned in 2005 but it is seen that only three hostels were built while the rest of the hostels are still under construction.
According to the question raised in the session, the Education department replied that the department takes steps to fill the vacant posts, but due to retirements, promotion and opening of new schools the vacancies remains vacant. The department also replied that they are trying their best to accelerate the construction and the other repair works.