The Apunba Ireipakki Maheiroi Sinpanglup (AIMS) today carried out the fourth phase of its inspection of government schools, highlighting acute teacher shortages, poor infrastructure and declining student enrolment in several schools under Zones I and II of the Zonal Education Office (ZEO), Imphal West.
The AIMS team, led by its president and secretary, inspected Sairem Upper Primary School, Maklang High School, Lamdong Heinoukhong Upper Primary School and Mongsangei Upper Primary School.
At Sairem Upper Primary School, the organisation found that the institution is being run by only two teachers—a Headmaster (in-charge) and a contract teacher. It alleged that low enrolment has been aggravated by the shortage of teachers, while two teachers transferred to the school last year reportedly never joined duty after obtaining stay orders.
At Maklang High School, AIMS found that there were no students enrolled in Classes VIII to X, while the remaining classes had an average of only five students each. The school authorities also cited the absence of proper fencing, leading to repeated damage and loss of school property.
The inspection at Lamdong Heinoukhong Upper Primary School revealed that the institution is effectively functioning only at the pre-primary level because of inadequate classroom space.
Students of different classes are reportedly forced to study together in the limited rooms available. Similar conditions were observed at Mongsangei Upper Primary School, where a shortage of classrooms has resulted in multiple classes being conducted in a single room.