Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee President and former MLA Asish Kumar Saha has written to Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, expressing deep concern over the deteriorating condition of government education in the state and urging immediate corrective measures.

In his letter, Saha alleged that the government education system in Tripura is facing a severe crisis due to a shortage of teachers, lack of recruitment, school closures, and increasing dropout rates. He claimed that around 18,000 government teacher posts are currently vacant in the state, while more than 400 schools are functioning with only one teacher.

Saha highlighted several issues, including inadequate numbers of English teachers in Vidyajyoti schools, closure of a large number of schools in rural and hilly areas, and delays in providing textbooks to students even one month before examinations. He also raised concerns over the introduction of pre-primary and nursery sections in around 450 schools from this year, stating that the move would further increase the workload on existing teachers.

The Congress leader accused the government of diverting teachers from their primary responsibility of teaching by assigning them various administrative duties, including census and other government-related work. He claimed that such practices were increasing physical and mental pressure on teachers and adversely affecting students and parents.

Saha demanded that the government withdraw its decision to deploy around 9,000 teachers and education workers for census-related duties. Instead, he suggested hiring educated unemployed youth on a temporary contractual basis to carry out census work, arguing that it would provide employment opportunities while reducing the burden on teachers. He also demanded that unemployed youth be engaged for Booth Level Officer (BLO) duties instead of teachers.

The Tripura Congress president further raised concerns over the recent Supreme Court directive regarding Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) qualifications. He stated that thousands of teachers appointed before the introduction of mandatory TET requirements could be affected by the order and claimed that more than 10,000 teachers in Tripura may face uncertainty.

Saha appealed to the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Union Education Ministry and seek necessary legal amendments through an ordinance to protect the jobs of affected teachers.

Calling the issues a matter of public interest and the future of education in Tripura, Saha urged the state government to take immediate and practical steps to resolve the problems facing the education sector.