Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, NOV 2 (NPN): Students, village councils and civil society organisations under the Sungro range in Wokha district launched an agitation on Monday over an acute shortage of teaching staff at Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), Sungro, warning of an indefinite agitation if the government failed to meet their demands.
The protesters expressed concern over the prolonged vacancy of subject teachers and its impact on students’ academic future, particularly with board examinations approaching. The agitation was joined by student bodies from Pangti, Okotso, Sungro, Aree Old and Aree New, along with village councils from seven villages.
Their demands include appointment of two post graduate teachers (PGTs), two graduate teachers (GTs), two primary teachers, retention of a graduate mathematics teacher post, and appointment of one lower division assistant-cum-upper division assistant (LDA-cum-UDA) and one science laboratory attendant.
The agitation follows repeated representations to the department of school education. In a representation submitted to the principal director on September 10, the school community sought urgent intervention and warned of agitation, including closure of the institution, if the demands remained unmet by October 15.
According to the representation, GHSS Sungro, the only higher secondary school in Sungro circle, caters to seven villages and has 153 students from Classes 6 to 12, making it the second-highest enrolment school after GHSS Wokha town.
The school has reportedly been without a language teacher since 2022, a science laboratory attendant since 2023 and a physical education teacher since January 2026. The post of PGT in alternative English also remains vacant. The shortage has affected syllabus completion, with Lotha and English in higher classes yet to be covered despite the second phase of examinations scheduled for November.
Pangti Village Students’ Union president Adv. Bonao Lotha said the shortage had persisted for nearly three years due to retirements, medical leave and failure to create or fill vacant posts. He said repeated representations to the principal director and advisor of school education had yielded no concrete response.
Lotha said the government had earlier assured that the demands would be addressed by the first week of October, before extending the timeline to October 29. However, no concrete information or written assurance had been received.
The school community has also called for creation and upgradation of GT and PGT posts, provision of an LDA-cum-UDA in every institution, retention of posts when teachers retire or leave service, and rationalisation of mathematics, science and other subject teachers.
Lotha said the agitation would continue until the demands were met or the government provided written assurance. The next phase would involve closure of government educational institutions until departmental officials held talks and gave a written assurance.
Students carried placards reading “Stop ruining our future”, “Building doesn’t teach, teacher does” and “GHSS is not Gurukula institution”.
A representative of the Sungro Range Council said years of neglect had compelled students and the public to launch the agitation. The representative appealed to the advisor and principal director of school education to examine the grievances and respond in writing, stressing that verbal assurances were no longer sufficient. The village councils and student bodies warned of intensifying the agitation if the demands remained unaddressed.