Jhalokathi, Sept 30 (V7N) – Primary education in Kathalia upazila of Jhalokathi is facing a serious administrative and academic crisis, with 87 of the 132 government primary schools operating without permanent headteachers.

The vacancies have remained unfilled for a long time, leaving assistant teachers to serve as acting headteachers. Local guardians and residents say the arrangement has affected both administrative activities and classroom teaching.

They said acting headteachers and other assistant teachers hold the same rank, making it difficult for some acting heads to enforce instructions. This has reportedly weakened discipline and administrative coordination in several schools, with allegations of internal divisions and groupings among teachers.

The crisis is compounded by an imbalance in teacher distribution. While some schools have more teachers than required, others are facing acute shortages, making it difficult to maintain an appropriate teacher-student ratio.

There are also allegations that some schools do not follow class schedules properly and that some teachers give greater attention to private tutoring and coaching than classroom teaching. As a result, some students reportedly struggle with basic reading skills even after completing primary education.

The declining quality of education has also caused concern among parents. Some are reportedly withdrawing their children from government primary schools and enrolling them in Noorani madrasas, creating an additional challenge for government schools in retaining students.

Student enrolment has fallen below 25 in several government primary schools in the upazila, according to local sources.

Md Mainuddin Newton, president of the Kathalia Upazila Assistant Teachers Foundation, said the prolonged absence of headteachers was placing additional pressure on assistant teachers and directly affecting the education of young students.

Kathalia Upazila Primary Education Officer K M Zaman said the shortage of headteachers was creating administrative difficulties in most schools.

“Since acting headteachers and assistant teachers hold the same rank, many do not want to give sufficient importance to the instructions of acting headteachers. However, we are regularly monitoring the schools to keep educational activities running normally,” he said.

He added that appointing permanent headteachers to all schools would help resolve the crisis.

Jhalokathi District Primary Education Officer Md Shahinul Islam Majumder said the higher authorities had been informed about the shortage of headteachers.

“The promotion process for headteachers is currently underway. Once the process is completed, the problems related to assistant teachers and headteachers will be resolved quickly, and educational activities will return to normal,” he said.

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