At South Kanial Khata Government Primary School in Nilphamari Sadar upazila, students of class IV and class V sit in a room and Assistant Teacher Rajab Ali takes classes one after another. He gives lessons on different subjects to students of two classes. This is due to acute shortage of teachers.

Rajab Ali is also the headmaster-in-charge of the school.

This correspondent could hardly understand what he taught and what lessons the students got.

After a class he came out and said there is another teacher in the school, who also does the same.

He ducked a question on lessons and said they are compelled to merge classes due to acute shortage of teachers.

He took over as headmaster-in-charge after the headmaster retired a few months back.

He said the problem was brought to the notice of the District Primary Education Office long ago, but to no effect.

On Wednesday, this correspondent also visited the Chapra Saramjani Government Primary School in the Sadar upazila where the same practice is followed.

The school runs two shifts-- classes I, II and III in the first shift and class IV and V in the second shift.

There are only two teachers now, including the headmaster.

The headmaster said students of classes II and III sit together in a room because of shortage of teachers.

There were two more female teachers in this school. One of them was transferred last year and the other is absent for more than two years.

This correspondent was taken aback when the headmaster said he ran the school alone for more than a year after the female teacher was transferred. He got a teacher in March this year on deputation.

The situation is almost the same in most of the government primary schools of the district, the two headmasters said.

This correspondent also visited some other government primary schools in the district on Thursday and Saturday. Primary education is virtually in doldrums in Nilphamari district because of teacher crisis, unauthorised absence of teachers and appointment of less qualified persons as teachers, it was gathered.

Sources in the District Primary Education Department said there are 472 government primary schools in six upazilas of the district with 392 posts of headmaster and 2,863 of other teachers.

Of these, 83 posts of headmaster and 555 of assistant teacher are vacant for long.

At many schools, assistant teachers without requisite qualification are headmasters-in-charge.

This is affecting discipline and academic atmosphere.

In the Sadar Upazila, eight out of 96 posts of headmaster and 104 out of 304 posts of assistant teacher are vacant.

In Domar upazila, 16 posts of headmaster against 67 and 73 posts of assistant teacher against 204 are vacant.

In Dimla, there are 65 posts of headmaster and 207 of assistant teacher. The vacant posts are 16 and 72 respectively.

The situation in Jaldhaka upazila is worse with 22 vacant posts of headmaster and 85 of assistant teachers out of 79 and 270 respectively.

The number of vacant posts of headmaster and assistant teacher is 16 and 77 respectively in Kishoreganj upazila.

In Saidpur, five posts of headmaster out of nine 9 and 61 of assistant teacher out of 227 are vacant.

The sources however said over 100 teachers are on a 10-month training at the district headquarters now.

Admitting the crisis of teachers, District Primary Education Officer Abdus Sattar Sarkar said recruitment of teachers is not in his hand. But he said the vacant posts will be filled up shortly as tests for recruitment of headmasters and assistant teachers have been completed.