A recent report that has surfaced in the tribal dominated state of Jharkhand has publicly bared the current state of affairs in the education sector of the state. It has been long alleged that the condition of higher education in the state is not something to be apprehensive about. But the recent expose has proven how true the facts were doing the rounds.
Jharkhand’s most famous and identifiable institution, Ranchi University has come under fire for this expose. It has been seen that Kartik Oraon College which happens to be one of the largest colleges under Ranchi University is reeling under an acute shortage of teachers. The college is located in the town of Gumla located 90 kilometres southwest of Ranchi.
Currently the college has 6000 students enrolled in its registers. In the current academic session 2000 new students will enrol themselves in various degree courses while 2000 more will be applying for the intermediate level which including science, commerce and arts. This sets the total number of students at 10000 against which a mere 24 teachers are present to assist the aforesaid lot with their education courses.
These statistics remain astounding in their unique self owing to the fact that the Union government had previously recommended this very college’s name as the only model college under Ranchi University for development purposes. The report has henceforth left the Union government flummoxed at the current state of affairs in the said college.
A professor of the college said, “There is no person to control the geography and botany departments. A single professor of the political science department takes classes with 600 students while in the history department classes are held with 800 students.”
These sordid facts have surfaced despite the fact that this college still remains one of the most famous colleges in the rural areas surrounding Ranchi. It was affiliated as a college in the year 1976 and since then it has constantly gained popularity over the years. In those days the college used to have 72 teaching and 200 non teaching staff.
There is a general feeling that with the rise in the number of students, the number of teaching and non teaching staff should have been correspondingly increased. But sadly, this never happened which took a toll on the education scenario. Instead of an increase, a constant dwindle in the number of teachers was noticed which couldn’t be arrested till yet.
A retired head of the college has stated, “Higher education in Jharkhand has been in a mess since a long time and instead of knowing this fact, the HRD keeps silent. A few changes in infrastructure were carried out but the basic requirements of the education scenario in the college have been left unattended.”
The principal of the college alleges that instead of repeatedly pleading the Ranchi University of the demure status of the college, they have hardly done anything. Still he hopes that some initiatives like computerization of admission procedures will be helpful for the students. But still it needs to be seen what is being done for the improvement of the education scenario in the college.
Tags:
