As many as 203 posts for head teachers in government primary schools have long been lying vacant in Panchagarh district.

The crisis has deepened after the process of direct appointment of head masters has been scrapped along with the promotion of teachers to the position of headmaster on the basis of seniority.

Sources in the district primary education office say there are 656 primary schools, including 46 old and 610 new government schools in 46 unions and three upazilas of the district.

Among these, 203 schools do not have head teachers.

About 161,000 students have been suffering in the absence of headmasters. The upazila-wise break-up of the schools and the schools without head teachers are as follows:

There are 162 schools under Sadar upazila, among which  31 are without head teachers; there are 170 schools under Boda upazila and 46 of them are without headmasters; there are 135 schools under Debiganj upzila, among which 52 are without headmasters; there are 111 schools under Atowari upzila and 36 of them are without headmasters; and finally, there are 74 schools under Tetulia upzila, among which 38 are without headmasters.

The post of head teacher in these schools has been lying vacant for 10 to 15 years.

According to sources, the promotion to the position of headmaster on the basis of seniority was scrapped in 2009. Moreover, direct appointment to the post has been stopped since 2014.

Earlier, 65 per cent of assistant teachers were promoted to the post of head teacher, while 35 per cent new teachers were directly appointed to the post by the department concerned.

As the posts of head teachers were upgraded to the second class in 2014, the department concerned was not allowed to appoint the head teachers directly.

Md Solayman Ali, the in-charge head teacher of Berubari Government Primary School in Sadar upazila, told this correspondent: “We've about 250 students. There are six teachers’ positions, of which two posts, including the post of head teacher, have been lying vacant for the past 15 years.”

“I often need to visit the T.E.O office leaving my schoolwork. It becomes very difficult for three other teachers to run the school in my absence,” he added. Preferring anonymity, an assistant upazila education officer said: “There are 18 schools in my cluster. Of them, eight have no headmasters.”

When contacted, district primary education officer Md Harun Or–Rashid said: “As cases regarding the demands for teachers have been filed in the High Court, the department and the ministry concerned can’t take any decision in this regard.”