Gyanoday Primary School had shut in 2012 and is now home to two buffaloes.
One can also find pigeons fluttering to a pigeonhole but not students, teachers, desk and blackboards.
Who let the buffaloes in?
The
answer is clear in Gopaldhara-Rangbhang valley: successive politicians
who ruled the hills but dragged their feet to put in place a proper
education system.
The school, 7km from here, was established in 1995 by the Subash Ghisingh-headed Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
The school started with no permanent teachers. Four volunteers used to teach the 45-odd students.
“I have a family to support. How long can one carry without salaries?” asked Aswain Thami, a former volunteer teacher.
One of his colleagues joined Gopaldhura tea garden office, while two lady volunteers preferred to be permanent homemakers.
Thami landed a civic police job in 2014.
Local
people made submissions to not only Ghisingh but also Bimal Gurung when
he was heading the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
They
have recently taken up the matter with local Gorkha Janmukti Morcha
leaders who are now with Binay Tamang, the GTA head. “We have been told
that our grievances will be redressed soon,” said Suman Yolmo, a
managing committee member.
“If at least one permanent teacher is appointed, the school would still be functional,” rued Thami.
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Closed Gyanoday Primary School |
Primary school teacher’s examination was last held in 2001 and the appointment letters were released the following year.
Amar
Singh Rai, GTA (education in-charge), admitted that primary and
secondary education system was in “a mess” in the hills. “There has to
be a proper recruitment system,” said Rai.
The School Service
Commission has been defunct in the hills since 2003. Ghisingh opposed
the commission demanding that its power be transferred to the DGHC.
“There
are vacancies of 652 primary teachers now. For some reason, the earlier
GTA did not pursue this issue but the state government has asked us to
submit rules for appointing the teachers,” said Rai.
“The rules
have been submitted. Once the matter related to the 652 teachers is
taken care of, we will have to put in place a proper system,” said Rai.
“The school building has developed cracks and needs repaired,” said Yolmo.
Less
than 50ft away stands a glittering three-storied “guest house” that was
patronised both by Ghisingh and Gurung. The buzz is that Rs 74 lakh was
spent on the “guest house”.
Till date, no guests have arrived.
It’s a solace for the school which has no students.
https://www.telegraphindia.com
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