Khowai, Tripura: The education system in Khowai is facing severe disarray and mismanagement, leading to chaotic conditions that jeopardize students’ futures and result in the decay of government assets. Despite the District Education Office and the School Inspector’s Office being a mere 100 meters apart in Khowai, the authorities remain oblivious to the deteriorating situation.
A staggering example of this negligence is the main gate of the Khowai Government Class XII School. For nearly 58 years, since 1967, this venerable institution’s iron gate has remained in a dilapidated state, a constant fixture of the district headquarters’ landscape. Shockingly, numerous high-ranking officials, including current and former Chief Ministers, ministers, and bureaucrats, have passed through this very gate for official events, yet neither renovation nor replacement has occurred.
🗑️ Wasted Assets and Classroom Anarchy
Compounding the issue, the old, sturdy entrance gate of the Khowai Government Class XII Girls’ School—which received a new building and gate long ago—has been abandoned on the roadside, outside the boundary wall, for years. Timely maintenance could have allowed this gate to be repurposed for other gate-less schools in Khowai, but it is left to rust, highlighting the department’s profound apathy.
Parents’ grievances are vast and serious. Schools suffer from a significant shortage of teachers. At the Girls’ School, students from classes III, IV, and V are often grouped together for lessons, leading to frequent conflicts and scuffles between older and younger children. School authorities allegedly evade responsibility when complaints are filed. Irregular class schedules and distressing incidents—such as a student falling ill after being locked in a restroom—underscore the perilous environment. Students often prefer to call their parents to report problems rather than approaching teachers, indicating a complete breakdown of trust.
🧑‍🏫 Teacher Shortage and Flawed Initiatives
This disorder is not isolated; it plagues many schools in Khowai. Parents have expressed outrage after schools completed ‘Periodic Test-II’ without publishing the annual exam results. They attribute this chaos to the School Inspector, Bipen Kumar Debbarma’s, alleged negligence and lack of regular supervision, leading to poor punctuality and discipline among teachers.
Furthermore, the Vidya Jyoti Scheme, which aims to introduce CBSE-approved English-medium curricula, is reportedly failing because most teachers lack the necessary training. Despite the “English medium” tag, teachers often fail to speak clear English, let alone conduct classes in the language, sticking to colloquial Bengali.
The state’s education system is further weakened by the massive retrenchment of 10,323 teachers and the annual attrition due to retirements. The Education Department’s failure to fill these vacancies is crippling schools. Some retrenched teachers argue that a humane approach and reinstatement of the 10,323 teachers could significantly stabilize the state’s education sector, an approach they believe the department is currently neglecting.
Overall, the Education Department’s operations in Khowai are in a state of crisis. The question remains: When will this systemic neglect end for the sake of the future generation?
