In a shocking incident, a video of a government primary school headmaster in Jolgi village of Chhattisgarh has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. The video captured Shambhu Dayal Verma, the headmaster of the village’s public primary school – blatantly smoking marijuana in the classroom, while kids can be seen playing in the background. The Jolgi gram panchayat comes under the Manendragarh- Chirmiri- Bharatpur district of Chhattisgarh.
According to local reports, the headmaster is a habitual smoker who frequently showed up on duty under the influence of intoxicants. The video was captured by a villager who can be heard asking the headmaster about the consequences of smoking in front of children.
After the incident went viral on Tuesday, the Block Education Officer of Bharatpur Development Block, Lakshman Sharma reached the village to investigate the matter. The incident has been notified to higher officers for further investigation.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time such an incident has surfaced in Chhattisgarh. Earlier instances of teachers reeling under alcohol have been reported. The incidents paint a despicable picture of the condition of children enrolled in primary schools under the state government. They also raise important questions about the lack of accountability on the part of teachers and administration.
Primary education in Chhattisgarh
As per the Annual Status of Education Report Chattisgarh (Rural) 2022, released this January, the number of children who were unable to recognise even letters in classes 2, 3, and 6 has increased double fold, since 2018 in Chhattisgarh.
In class 2, it has increased from 19.5% to 37.6%; in class 3, it has increased from 10.4% to 22.5% while in class 6, it has increased from 2.5% to 4.8%. The report further stated that in class 3, only 12.3% of students were able to read class 2-level text. The arithmetic skills of the children have also witnessed a downfall with the number of children who were unable to recognise single-digit numbers increasing from 11.4% to 24.3% in class 2, since 2018.
Teachers form one of the most important socialising agents for children. Especially in a village, teachers and educators have major roles to play as agents of social change. Proactive action is urgently needed to avoid such incidents in the future.
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