Simulia: Who needs teachers when you’ve got asbestos roofs, makeshift classrooms, and a few good Samaritans?
That seems to be the official policy for Surendra Smruti Upper Primary School in Ramabindha village under Simulia block of Balasore district, where 50 students of Classes VI and VII have been studying for months without a single appointed teacher, and no, this isn’t a metaphor.
It’s been a full-fledged “teacher-less” institution since November 2024. Established in 1995, the school had two staff members: assistant teacher Ramakant Nayak, who retired June 30, 2024, and headmaster Madan Mohan Panda, who signed off November 30, 2024.
Since then, the government has maintained a steadfast commitment to inaction.
Yet, against all odds and administrative indifference, classes are still being held in dilapidated classrooms with asbestos and thatch roofs, thanks only to the goodwill of teachers from the nearby Ramabindha Government Primary School.
After completing their own school duties, these educators generously moonlight as unpaid stand-ins, lest the children fall too far behind.
“We are trying to manage as best as we can,” said Satyanarayan Malik, a teacher at the primary school. “Besides the midday meals, we’ve taken on the responsibility of teaching these students, too.”
No additional salary, no formal recognition, just a sense of responsibility that’s apparently missing higher up the hierarchy.
Parents, on the other hand, have been demanding that the school be merged with the nearby primary school and upgraded, a logical step, but logic rarely survives the paper trail of bureaucracy.
Repeated appeals to the local legislator and education officials have gone unanswered.
“How will our children even appear in exams with no regular teachers?” one worried parent asked.
“Is this how the government prepares future citizens?” The Education Department, however, claims it’s done its part.
Assistant Block Education Officer (ABEO) Bidyadhar Mahalik confirmed that the issue was reported to the state Director of Education via Letter No. 1742, dated July 14, 2025.
And now, the system waits, as it often does, for instructions from higher authorities.
PNN
