Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Aug 19: Around 85 significant positions, including Zonal Education Officers (CEOs), Principals, and Headmasters, are vacant in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, affecting both academic and administrative activity in the educational institutions.
There are 9 Education Zones, 32 Higher Secondary Schools and over 50 High Schools without a head in the district. The district has 12 Education Zones, but only three ZEOs are now in service, according to a high-ranking official in the department.
He added the remaining nine zones are either being monitored through additional charges or the ZEO offices are still without a head. He said that the Government had recently produced a list and requested that certain persons join as ZEOs in particular zones but no one has responded. According to the source, the explanations ranged from “I am nearing retirement” to “the posting location is too far away.”
The same problem exists throughout the district’s Higher Secondary schools. According to sources, the Anantnag has roughly 60 Higher Secondary schools, but only 28 of them have Principals. “32 of them are being run by support staff without Principals,” the official said, adding that the government had lately distributed Principals across the UT, but only four or five had been sent to Anantnag.
The shortfall occurred when government schools, on the government’s directives, have begun offering community classes after remaining closed throughout the pandemic and the lockdown following the revocation of Article 370.
Officials in the department told Excelsior that the lack of these authorities was affecting the school system because no one was available to decide when they were needed. “Personnel in charge of the post or those carrying extra charges for the time being, lack drawing and disbursing powers, resulting in a shortage of essentials in schools and offices in the zones,” departmental sources told Excelsior.
High schools have been impacted as well. Anantnag district, according to sources, has 117 high schools, most of which are currently without a headmaster. “The ratio is 60:40, with Head Masters at 40 percent of the schools,” said an official, adding that the government has not yet decided how to close the gaps.
As teachers at this institution are now striving to focus on community classes, their work has been significantly affected in absence of concerned heads.
Director of School Education Kashmir, Tasaduq Hussain, told Excelsior that he was unaware of the details. “I will check details and look into the matter,” he added.
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