Aided schools in Maharashtra grapple with acute staff crunch

Aided schools in the state are grappling with a severe staff crunch, as the state government has failed to recruit class IV employees in various educational institutions across Maharashtra.
The schools aided by the municipal corporation and the government are facing such problems for a year now.
While an aided school in Khadki had to close down its library section in absence of a library teacher, another school in the heart of the city faces problems during science practicals owing to inadequate laboratory assistants.
Another government-aided school in Kondhwa does not have enough number of peons, and this has taken a toll on cleanliness in the school.
The principal of a city school, on condition of anonymity, said, “I have closed down my library section, as there is no one to look after the books and other materials in the library. I have also stopped the monthly newspaper subscriptions, as we don’t have anyone to look after it.”
Preeti Sonawade, a staffer in a city-based aided school, said, “We have to combine the practical classes of standards VIII and IX, as we do not have enough laboratory assistants. The science teacher cannot keep tabs on a class of 50 children in absence of a lab assistant. The school hires lab assistants on an hourly basis to fill up the gap,” she said.
Shankar Gaikwad, a peon at a city school said that since he was the only peon in his school, he did not get his leaves on time.
“I am the only peon and I have to carry out the responsibilities of two persons. It leaves me exhausted at the end of the day,” he said.
Every day administrative work at the schools is also getting affected as the post of junior and senior clerks are vacant.
A University of Pune (UoP) senate member said, “To complete the administrative work, educational institutes fill the vacant posts with temporary appointments on a low salary. The schools do this as they have to pay the clerks from their own pockets,” he said.