Padhar school struggles without lecturers

Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Padhar, in the Jawali Assembly constituency is facing a serious staff shortage, highlighting a grim reality in Himachal Pradesh’s education sector. Despite being upgraded to a senior secondary school in 2016 with an arts stream, the school currently has no lecturer in place for the 2025–26 academic session. This situation raises serious concerns about the state government’s policy of closing schools with zero enrolment and penalising teachers if annual results fall below 25 per cent.

From 50 students in the 2017–18 academic session, the number of students in Classes 11 and 12 has now dwindled to just 18

Of the four sanctioned posts of lecturers—English, Hindi, political science, and history—not one has been filled. The English lecturer post has been vacant since December last year, while the other three have remained unfilled for over a year. Additionally, the post of senior assistant has also been lying vacant for a long time.

To make matters worse, the principal of the senior secondary school was recently transferred, leaving the school headless. A trained graduate teacher (TGT) handling Class X is now functioning as the officiating principal. This lack of qualified teaching staff and leadership has taken a toll on the school’s enrolment. From 50 students in the 2017–18 academic session, the number of students in Classes 11 and 12 has now dwindled to just 18.

Padhar is a remote gram panchayat in the Nagrota Surian development block of Jawali constituency, bordering Shahpur in Kangra district. Residents and local leaders have long been demanding that the vacant lecturer posts be filled. Sadhu Ram Rana, a social activist and up-pradhan of the nearby Dol-Bhatehar area, said appeals were made to the local MLA and Minister for Animal Husbandry and Agriculture, Chander Kumar, as well as to the Education Department. However, rather than addressing the staff crisis, the government transferred the school principal to GSSS Hatwas in Kangra district earlier this month.

Parents are now beginning to transfer their children to nearby senior secondary schools due to the lack of teachers. Om Prakash, president of the School Management Committee, warned that if the vacant posts are not filled within a week, the remaining students will also be shifted to other institutions to save their academic year.

According to official sources, the teacher shortage is a state-wide issue. Himachal Pradesh has 125 schools operating without a single teacher and around 2,600 schools being run by just one teacher. These figures contradict the state government’s claims of improving educational standards.

Vikas Mahajan, Deputy Director of Higher Education in Dharamshala, assured that the department plans to fill vacant posts soon after the implementation of a new rationalization policy for teacher postings. However, for the students of GSSS Padhar, time is running out.

Himachal Tribune