(Photo used for representation only)

PANAJI: Of the 890 government primary schools in Goa, only five had a headmaster appointed at the institution on a full-time basis during the academic year 2016-17, according to the data of the directorate of education (DoE).

In addition to these five posts, only three other headmasters’ posts are waiting to be filled in primary schools, leaving the large majority of state government-owned elementary schools without a regular head.

“The student strength of the government primary schools in Goa has been on a decline. Only where the student strength is good enough, the senior most teacher of the school is appointed as the head teacher,” director of education G P Bhat said. These teachers are paid only Rs 200 over and above their regular salaries to discharge the duties of a head teacher.

Education officials inform that the state has not created posts of headmaster or head teacher in government primary schools over the years as a policy decision.

“We have to look after administrative work too like responding to official correspondence in addition to our teaching work,” teacher from a rural single-teacher school said. There are 347 single teacher schools in Goa.

This state policy of no headmaster in primary schools has meant that not just government but government aided private primary schools in Goa too have been lax in appointing a full-time head, leading to teachers being burdened with administrative jobs. Or where a schools is attached to a high school, the high school headmaster or headmistress, shuffles between both sections.

According to the data of the Union human resource ministry’s wing DISE for the year 2014-15, of all the primary schools in Goa with an enrolment of 150 students and above, as many as 62.50% are without a headmaster. This is much worse than the national average where 45% of all primary schools are without a head.

At the high school level, where the state rules make it mandatory to have a head, the condition is much better with only around 25% being without a head teacher.

