Elahi Bakhsh High School in Panjipara. Picture by Mehedi Hedaytullah

Islampur, Dec. 25: Four teachers, who had been appointed by the School Service Commission for a high school three months ago, have not been allowed to join, allegedly because the posts of Urdu teachers in the institution have been vacant for long.

Sushanta Das, Ganesh Chandra Sinha, Sayantani Paul and Prahlad Paul had complained to the SSC in October. The SSC had showcased the managing committee secretary of Panjipara Elahi Bakhsh High School and had even threatened to withdraw financial assistance if it was not satisfied with the reply.

Sources in the school said the posts of Urdu teachers had been vacant for quite sometime. “We have been writing to the SSC repeatedly for filling up the posts, yet they are not responding. The local people are not allowing us to appoint faculty who teaches in Bengali till these posts are filled up,” said a managing committee member.

Enayaet Hossain, the secretary of the Left-dominated managing committee, said the school was ready to appoint teachers who are proficient in teaching in Bengali. However, an organisation of guardians, the Anjuman Tariqqui Urdu Hind, had gheraoed the school over the appointment of teachers who can take classes in Urdu in October. “The organisation has threatened to shut down the school if these four teachers are allowed to enter the school. I have explained the situation to the SSC in my reply to the showcause notice,” Hossain said.

The school was established as an Urdu-medium institution in 1959. In 1980, the district school council of the undivided West Dinajpur introduced Hindi and Bengali mediums of instructions and the school was recognised as a multi-lingual institution. However, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education passed an order (S/376) in 1988, declaring the school as a Bengali medium. Since 2000, the SSC has sent 11 teachers who can teach only in Bengali, Hossain added.

At present, there are 3,000 students — 1,800 who follow instructions in Bengali and 1,200 in Urdu — in the school. Of the 18 teachers and seven para-teachers, five teachers including three para-teachers teach in Urdu and the rest in Bengali.

The headmaster of the school, Ramzan Ali, refused comment. However, the assistant headmaster, Mohammad Arif, said there was a dearth of teachers proficient in Urdu. “We need the four Bengali teachers but we need more Urdu teachers. We are trying to settle the matter with the local people and the district school education council.”

The district inspector of schools (secondary), Rezaul Karim Tarafdar, voiced concern about the situation. “We have requested the school authorities to appoint the four teachers. We will look into the local grievances later,” he said.