Nazira: Serious structural problems have surfaced in the Nazira Co-District Primary Education Block, which administers 319 Lower Primary, Middle English and Middle schools. While the block employs nearly 1,200 teachers, total student enrolment stands at only 27,077, resulting in an average of about 84 students per school. As per government norms prescribing a teacher-student ratio of 1:30, only around 903 teachers are required, indicating a surplus of several hundred teachers in the block.
However, the problem lies not in numbers alone but in inequitable distribution. Schools located in urban and easily accessible areas are heavily over-staffed, while remote and peripheral schools suffer from acute teacher shortages. This imbalance has adversely affected the overall quality of education, even as the state government continues to project claims of development.
Adding to the concern is the steady decline in enrolment in Assamese-medium government schools. Despite substantial public expenditure on infrastructure and salaries, parents are increasingly opting for private institutions. Alarmingly, even teachers serving in government schools reportedly prefer private schools for their own children.
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An application filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005 seeking details of Samagra Shiksha funds allocated and spent for the 319 schools failed to elicit any concrete information. The Nazira Block Primary Education Office was unable to provide records of fund utilisation and declined to share school-wise teacher and student data, raising serious questions about transparency.
Observers allege that excessive administrative overheads and possible misuse of funds have reduced many government schools to “business-like” entities, resulting in deteriorating standards and the gradual closure of schools across the block.
