Ajnala, January 8
Many government primary and middle schools in this block, especially near the international border have been locked for a long time, while a good number of the schools are either teacher-less or running with one teacher only. This sums up the state of affairs in the border areas.

What is worse, Government High School, Bhindi Aulakh (Chaugawan block) which caters to at least a dozen villages of the border area is being run by an art and craft teacher while the examination of middle and matriculation would start from February 15 and March 2 respectively. The Gram Panchayat expressed apprehension that the admission forms of the students of matric had not reached the Punjab School Education Board even as the then officiating Headmaster who had allegedly collected the admission fee had been placed under suspension last year.

The Sarv Siksha Abhyan (SSA) has virtually played havoc in this block. The SSA compels the teachers (even though there is one teacher) to undergo 20 day seminars while examinations are round the corner. The camps or seminars are arranged to exhaust the grants , earmarked for this purpose .

Intensive survey of the border schools revealed that there is a long holiday for students in many schools which are teacherless. The students of some schools were seen playing cricket during the study time as temporary teachers (un-trained plus two pass), recruited against meagre amount of Rs 1000 per month EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) are unable to teach subjects like mathematics, science, Hindi or English. Thus private schools have mushroomed in the area where students of poor families cannot afford to study. Mr Charnjit Singh Gumtala of Amritsar Vikas Manch alleged that the bureaucrats wanted to promote private schools at the cost of government schools. There is hardly any government school in the region where all vacancies are filled.

The ad hoc approach of the state government towards education could be gauged from the fact that there is not even a single regular Block Primary Education Officer in the district. According to Mr Sucha Singh, state general secretary Government Teachers Union (GTU) Punjab except for three regular officers rest the 225 Central Head Teachers were officiating as BPEOs.

The names of primary schools which have been closed since long include Government Primary School, Singhoke, Koli Shah Habir, Sahowal, Shehzada, Saidopur, Chakkbala, Kotli Korodhana, Raipur Khurd and Gaggar. According to official sources, out of 264 sanctioned posts of primary teachers as many as 122 posts are lying vacant in Ajnala (II).