Protesting against the absence of permanent teachers to teach in Santali in schools, a tribal organisation has decided to hit the streets in the city.
Santali as medium of instruction in the State-run schools of West Bengal was announced a few years ago. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has been conducting Class X board examination in Santhali using Ol Chiki scripts across several schools in the State.
Representatives of Adibasi Socio-Educational & Cultural Association (ASECA),West Bengal, on Wednesday announced that on September 24 thousands of tribals will descend on the streets demanding permanent Santali teachers in schools where the language is taught as a medium of instruction.
Madhyamik exam
“There are more than 20 schools in the State from where hundreds of students appear in Madhyamik examination in Santali. But there is not a single permanent teacher who can teach in Santali in these schools,” pointed out Madan Mohan Baskey, president of ASECA, West Bengal unit.
Contractual staff
Mr. Baskey said that the para teachers or contractual teachers are engaged in teaching students in Santali in these schools. “Over the years there has not been a single recruitment of permanent teacher who can teach in Santali,” he said.
Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, president of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education said along with Bengali, English, Hindi, and Nepali, students write the Class X board examination also in Santhali in Ol Chiki script.
“The schools are located in certain districts like Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur,” he said.
On whether there has been no recruitment of permanent Santali teachers, Mr. Ganguly said he was not aware. Sharmila Mitra, chairperson of State School Service Examination refused to comment on the issue.
