A government primary school in Kurigram has been operating with only one teacher for nearly two years, leaving 165 students from grade one to five struggling to continue their studies properly.
The situation exists at Uttar Dhaldanga Government Primary School in Shilkhuri Union under Bhurungamari Upazila, where a lone teacher has been managing multiple classes simultaneously in two shifts.
Local guardians, students and education officials confirmed the matter.
According to guardians, academic activities at the school have largely become ineffective due to the severe teacher shortage.
They questioned how one teacher could conduct lessons for five classes at the same time.
Students said the teacher often assigned work to one class before moving to another, leaving many classrooms noisy and unsupervised.
Guardian Mizanur Rahman said his son regularly attended the school but proper teaching was not taking place.
“How can a school run with only one teacher? It has become a joke. The children’s future is being destroyed,” he said.
The school’s only teacher, Shirina Afroz, travels around 16 kilometres daily from the upazila headquarters to the remote school.
She said she had been handling the entire school alone for the past two years, although another teacher was occasionally deputed for short periods.
“In the first shift I handle three classes, and in the second shift I manage the remaining classes. It is very difficult, but there is no alternative,” she said.
She added that no additional teacher had been assigned this year despite repeated requests.
Following media enquiries into the issue on Tuesday, the primary education authorities moved to address the crisis by initiating steps to deputise another teacher to the school.
Bhurungamari Upazila Education Officer Akhtarul Islam admitted that academic activities were being disrupted due to the teacher shortage.
“We were supposed to appoint two teachers through the recruitment process, but the process has not been completed yet,” he said.
He added that discussions had already been held with the district primary education office and arrangements would be made to send one teacher on deputation from Wednesday.
