CHANDPUR. Nov 10: Acute shortage of teachers has been prevailing at Chandpur Government College.

At present about 50 per cent posts of teachers, demonsatra-tors. office staffers and MLSS are lyfngvslcant

Masters final. Prethrlfnary and Honours courses have been introduced In Bengali. Accountancy. Economics and Poltiical Science since 1994.

According to Enam Commission report. 12 teachers are requried In each department to run the courses.

Only six to seven teachers are running each department. As a result proper academic atmosphere is not prevailing in the college.

According to college office sources, out of total 120 posts 59 posts of teachers are lying vacant. Out of four teachers only one teacher is taking classes in Social Welfare Department. Honours courses have also been introducted in Chemistry. Botany. Zoology and Mathe-matcis. But only three to four teachers are taking classes in each department.

Masters and Honours departments have no office staffers and MLSS.

Md Abu Taher Bhuya. Principal of the college told this correspondent that he had written letters several times to the con-

cerned ministry about creation of posts.but in vain.

Moreover, the college has no boundary wall for a long time. As a result outsiders, cattles and miscreants can easily enter into the college premises and disturb the academic atmosphere.

The condition of female hostel is deplorable. There Is accommodation for only 50 students. About 100 female students are residing in the hostel now.

The playground of the college is situated at a low lying area where rain water remains stagnant almost round the year obstructing participation of students in games and s|x>rts.

APB reports from Pancha-S;arh: Primary education for 1.5 akh children in the country's northern-most district is being hampered owing to lack of teachers, furniture and academic facilities.

The authorities of the primary schools in Panchagarh Sadar, Atoari. Tetulia. Deviganj and Boda thanas find it difficult to impart education to their pupils due to these handicaps. the District Primary Education Office sources said.

Yet. according to official estimates. the rate of literacy in the district has been increasing steadily. Out of 633 primary schools in five thanas, 310 ones are run by the government.

The sources said positions of 72 teachers In the governmentrun primary schools have long been lying vacant. These include positions of 56 Head Masters.

. Although a large, portion of boys and girls of poverty-stricken areas of the district^ does not go to schools, the number of children of school-going age last year totalled 1.47.633. out of whom 1.44.691 got admitted themselves into different schools.

Of the total schoolgoers. 75.236 were boys and 69,455 girls.

According to an official account. the rate of admission into primary schools rose from 71 per cent in 1990 to '98 per cent in the year 1998.

But. a large number of students have dropped out within ■the first five months of getting admitted into schools. The reason for this has been said to be poverty of the guardians.

According to a survey carried out by UNICEF the rate of attendance in the district last year was 59 per cent.

"The rate of attendance could be raised and the percentage of dropouts reduced by launching input based educational curricula and making the atmosphere within the schools more attractive.” Deputy Director of the Directorate of Primary Education in Rajshahi Nazrul Islam told.