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Monday, June 08, 2009

Fewer classes to solve over-admission crisis!

MALDA, 8 JUNE: To beat the problem of over-admission into class V, the Kaliachak Girls’ Higher Secondary School authority in Malda district has come up with a simple solution - reduce the classes to thrice a week per student.

However, this reduction would be illegal. By the committee's calculations, if each student took classes on alternative days they would manage accommodating the 702 students already admitted to class V and also those waiting in the wings for admission.

“We do not have an adequate number of rooms to accommodate all the students. Under the circumstances, the only solution is classes on alternate days. The students would be divided into groups and each group would get three classes per week,” said the Kaliachak Girls’ Higher Secondary School headmistress Mrs Mallika Sarkar.

The school has additional problems. Of the 29 sanctioned posts (including Higher Secondary section), the school has 20 teachers who have to divide the workload between them.

The school's proposition is encountering obstruction, however. “Such a formula is unheard of and cannot be introduced without the instruction of the secondary board of education,” said the district inspector of schools, Malda, Mr Chinmay Sarkar.

According to Mr Sarkar, the thrice a week class per student formula would reduce the mandatory 200 days’ class per year. “It is a violation of the government education policy,” he added.

The problem according to the Malda zilla parishad sabhadhipati, Mrs Sabin Yeasmin, is serious. Mrs Yeasmin, a former student of the school, said: “The school does not even have additional space for construction of a new building to accommodate more classrooms.” N SNS

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