Teaching is disrupted due to the teacher-staff crisis in Ulipur Upazila. Ulipur Government College is the most traditional old institution of higher education in Ulipur Upazila of Kurigram district. It has a lovely and pleasant environment, its expanse surrounded by lush greenery, a smooth campus, and vast grounds. The College was established in 1964 by the former Upazila chairman, the late Abdur Rob Sardar. The College was nationalized in 1987. Thousands of students of this traditional College are employed as officers in various important public and private offices of the country.
The institution is in trouble due to a teacher-staff crisis. As a result, the students here are facing disaster. The entire education system is under threat. Ulipur Government College is staying caught up in terms of success despite the shortage of teachers. The authorities have continued the teaching program with some guest teachers on special arrangements so that students do not turn away from class activities due to a shortage of teachers.
With the city's importance, the number of students of this old institution is increasing daily. But the opportunities have remained the same compared to that. The College lacks classrooms compared to the requirement and has a shortage of teachers and staff.
According to college sources, the College currently has 380 students in the science department, 350 students in the humanities department and 150 students in the business education department and 180 students in the degree (pass course) level. However, only twenty-seven posts of subject-wise teachers were created for more than 1000 students, of which 12 teachers are currently employed. Most of which 15 posts are vacant, including three posts of lecturers in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Currently, there are eight vacant posts in the science department with four teachers working and a similar situation in the humanities department. Although there are fewer teachers in both departments, the business education department has become completely vacant. Moreover, there are three posts vacant in Bengali subjects in this College.
Furthermore, apart from teachers, there are 19 posts created from the 3rd and 4th classes, starting with an office assistant. There are still 13 vacancies with only six people working there.
Habib, a student of the Business education department, said, "I have entered the government college in higher secondary branch with many hopes and dreams, travelling almost 8-10 km per day across Brahmaputra river of Hatia union of Upazila. I came to the College from a distance to take classes from the BCS cadre teachers because I wanted to know and learn something good. But unfortunately, we don't have a single teacher in the Business subject in our department. Local guest teachers conduct our teaching." Juti, Rabbi, Alamgir, Ashraful, Adam and many other department students said the same thing.
When talking to many students, including Varna, Manisha, Riyad, Sami, Rafi, Mizanur, Sourav, etc., of class 12 of the science department, they have no end of complaints. As the College does not have a mathematics teacher, the students cannot turn to the teacher for any problem. Even many guest teachers cannot solve complex equations. They also said that apart from this, they cannot learn and comprehend anything because there is no lecturer in the science department, and they have to suffer a lot sometimes as a result.
Assistant Professor Shafiqul Islam said that the number of students in the College is more than sufficient. It is increasing day by day. At present, the number of classrooms is 6, and 12 more classrooms are required. Recently, one student hostel with 165 seats and another with 162 seats have been under construction for students, which will play an essential role in improving the quality of education in this region.
Abu Saeed Sarkar, the district's best energy-enthusiastic social activist and vice-chairman of the Upazila Parishad, said, "I strongly demand the government to remove the shortage of teachers and introduce undergraduate courses in the College to improve the quality of education in this region. This will help the students of the area can receive higher education from home."
In this regard, the vice-principal said Abu Jubair Al Mukul stated that applications had been sent to the Secondary and Higher Secondary Directorate for the appointment of teachers on an urgent basis to increase the quality of education and maintain the reputation of the College. But still, no teacher has been posted in our College. Because of this, we are in a bit of a teacher crisis. We hope that the problem of the shortage of teachers for vacant posts in the institute will be resolved in a few days.
Principal Professor Md. Sharifur Rahman Khokon said, "Due to the shortage of teachers and staff, it is often difficult to conduct classes. Special arrangements have been made to continue teaching with some guest teachers despite the lack of teachers so that students stay in class activities.
In this regard, the local Member of Parliament and member of the standing committee related to the Ministry of Education said that the government is always education friendly. "We have a lot of importance on education. Two hostels are being constructed in the College, keeping in mind the students of this rural area. Moreover, arrangements will be made for teachers to join the College with the necessary facilities to eliminate the shortage of teachers.
