Differently abled children have their meal at the State Deaf and Dumb School in Darbhanga. Picture by Pramod Kumar Gupta

Darbhanga, March 2: Students of the once-reputed State Deaf and Dumb School have reasons to be unhappy. The educational institution has fallen vicitm to utter negligence on the part of the district administration.

The only school of its kind in north Bihar for boys with hearing and speech impairment lacks infrastructure for education.

Out of seven sanctioned teachers’ posts, only two are posted at present — headmaster Parmanand Mishra and assistant teacher Sanjay Kumar Verma. Mishra is slated to retire on March 31. Verma — the only teacher left in the school — will serve as the headmaster.

According to the norms, six hours of teaching are mandatory for each class. But with one teacher left — for 50 students from classes I to VIII — the pupils will be left in the lurch.

Several letters have been sent to the state government to fill up the vacancies but in vain.

“One teacher, Chandreshwar Prasad, retired and four others succeeded in getting transfer. No new teacher has been appointed. Several letters have been sent to the higher authorities but in vain,” said Mishra. Verma said the post of two instructors have also been vacant for long. There is no sweeper and only one cook instead of two. Narayan Paswan, the cook, said: “I am unable to take leave even for a day as there is no one to assist me or substitute for me.”

On the day The Telegraph team visited the school, meat was prepared for the non-vegetarian students and sewai for vegetarians. Though the quantity of meat was not much, students said they were satisfied.

All of them are entitled to food, clothes, soaps and oil. The government has been funding these. But the funds are not enough for the maintenance of the infrastructure. The latrines are in a shambles and as there is no bathroom, all the students are forced to wash themselves in the open.

On January 16 this year, former district magistrate Santosh Kumar Mall visited the school for inspection.

Mall had issued instruction to the executive engineer of the public works department (PWD) to immediately repair the latrines and also construct a bathroom. He had also directed the district superintendent of education to fill up the vacant posts. But Mall has been transferred and the situation remains unaltered.

At present, the social security officer of the social welfare department is responsible for filling up the vacancies and the PWD for the building works.

A source said lack of coordination between the social security office and social welfare department is responsible for the backlog in the works.

The students in the school get education and training in weaving, composing for press, carpentry and other skills. They live in a hostel on the premises.

The school was opened by the trustees of Kameshwari Priya Poor Home, Darbhanga, in 1965.