In the video, shared by ANI, one can see two teachers sharing a blackboard to teach Hindi and Urdu as pupils of different classes sit together in one classroom. The video was reportedly shot at Adarsh Middle School located in the Manihari block of Katihar.
Why were students being taught simultaneously?
Makhan Kumar, a Katihari local, teacher, and BLO member said, “ A few years ago, many regional schools were opened. But those schools could not sustain and only a few students enrolled. Therefore many schools either shut down or were merged with other existing government schools.” He added that there is suspicion that this incident was looking a bit staged to bring fore to the light the infrastructure of the education system.
The Project Approval Board (PAB) report under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for Bihar for 2021-22 concluded that the state government for the construction of school buildings could not find land and it was difficult to run them in the existing condition. As a result, approximately 1885 primary schools in the state have been closed for want of land. These schools had been functioning in the community halls or under the trees in different parts of the state for the last 10 to 15 years. One such school was the Urdu Primary school in Manihari, Katihar, Bihar which was shut down back in 2017. The students of this school then were enrolled in Adarsh Middle School which is also located in Manihari, Katihar, by the education department.
#WATCH | Bihar: Hindi & Urdu being taught on same blackboard in one classroom of a school in Katihar
Urdu Primary School was shifted to our school by Education Dept in 2017. Teachers teach both Hindi &Urdu in one classroom: Kumari Priyanka, Asst teacher of Adarsh Middle School pic.twitter.com/ZdkPE0j7tW
— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2022
Twitter Community criticized the video and the condition in which the students were being taught. One user said went on to say that the students are bright and full of potential but the education system was bogging them down.
This is the situation of Indian education system.We are not giving so much to our and we will pay for this in coming years because unemployment and illegal works will be increasing day by day which is disrespectful for this nation.
— Intellectual Warrior (@IAmNRC2) May 16, 2022