Kendrapada: The Bharatpur Upper Primary School in Kendrapada district has been functioning without a teacher for over a week, forcing students to skip classes after its sole teacher retired on March 31.
The 36-year-old school, located 12km from Kendrapada town, had only one teacher, Bichitra Kumar Panda, who had worked at the institution for more than a decade. Around 35 students from Classes VI and VII have been affected by this situation.
“The school has had only one teacher since 2021 when Brajakishor Lenka retired. Since then, Panda had been managing alone until his retirement,” Sauri Sethi, parent of a Class VII student, said.
“Five years ago, we had around 60 students. The numbers have dropped due to the persistent teacher shortage,” Krupasindhu Sahoo, a local resident, said.
When contacted, district education officer Basant Kumar Nayak said, “Being an aided school, it will soon be merged with a nearby govt high school. Currently, we have no plans to appoint new teachers.”