Ranchi, June 13: Vocational courses in various government-run Plus Two schools in Ranchi district are suffering due to the lack of efficient teachers.

The courses, aiming at enhancing the self-sufficiency of students, have taken a backseat in 14 such schools in the district. Even more surprising is the fact that the classes are often taken by general teachers following government ?request?.

In every vocational course there are 25 seats and at least three teachers are required in each course. But at present, there are only 39 teachers who are working on an ad-hoc basis in the schools. The total number of qualified teachers required in the vocational courses are 72.

Arvind Vijay Bilung, district education officer, said many students who have enrolled in the various vocational courses in S.S. Plus Two Government High School, Khunti, are not attending the classes due to lack of teachers. ?Many of the students do not want to waste time in colleges,? added Bilung.

He further added that every month the government spends Rs 4 lakh to run these courses but the money is not utilised properly.

Rakesh Singh, one of the students undergoing a course on poultry farming in Zilla School, said: ?I decided to enrol myself in one of the vocational courses to be able to earn a livelihood soon.But after attending the classes I found that the course is not of much help as the teachers do not teach properly.?

Bilung further added that the vocational courses in the rural schools would play a vital role in the development of the rural areas. If the passed out students start small-scale businesses, they can provide employments to other villagers too.

Officials of the state education department said the government is planning to strengthen the vocational courses running in the schools to enable maximum students to benefit from the system.