Koderma: Nearly 1,000 students of a high school under Satganwa block marched around 3 km to the block headquarters on Wednesday to protest acute teacher shortages and poor infrastructure.The students raised slogans against the administration and staged a sit-in outside the block office. With the classes 10 and 12 board examinations just four months away, they said teaching at the school had virtually come to a halt.According to the students, classes 9 and 10 have no teachers for English, history, Sanskrit, biology and economics. Classes 11 and 12 are without teachers for history, chemistry, mathematics, Hindi and Sanskrit.Student representatives said several written requests had been submitted to the school education department, but no action had been taken. They alleged that existing teachers were being transferred out without vacancies being filled.The students also complained about leaking classroom roofs, unsafe conditions, inadequate space and a severe shortage of furniture. In some classrooms, as many as eight students reportedly have to share a bench.BDO Manoj Kumar Ravi, BEPO Ashok Upadhyay and DEO Mukul Raj met the protesters. However, the students initially rejected verbal assurances and demanded that Koderma deputy commissioner Utkarsh Gupta visit the school and provide firm commitments. Officials later managed to pacify the protesters.Gupta told TOI that the administration had taken serious note of the matter and sought a detailed report for prompt action.
