The state education department has decided to engage retired teachers to teach students in higher secondary classes to redress the issue of the paucity of teachers in state-aided schools across Bengal.

From this academic year, the WBCHSE, which holds the higher secondary exams in science, commerce and humanities streams, will also introduce the semester system.

“There is a shortage of teachers at the higher secondary level, that is, for Classes XI and XII. To ensure that students do not have to face any difficulty in their studies, it has been decided that if required, we will engage retired teachers for these classes, as per the requirement of each school,” said Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, the president of West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE).

On May 18, Bhattacharjee was here to attend a meeting with headmasters and teachers of all the state-aided schools located in Siliguri and the adjoining areas of North Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri districts.

“There will be two semesters each in classes XI and XII. The syllabi in all three streams have been rearranged for students so that they can acquaint themselves with the new system,” said a source.

For the teachers who take classes in Classes XI and XII, the state education department has taken up the initiative to apprise teachers about the new system. “Workshops are being organised for teachers in districts so that they have a clear idea about the new semester system,” the source added.

Senior officials of the state education department pointed out that on one hand, recruitment of teachers in schools has come to a halt because of several issues. On the other hand, several teachers who used to teach students pursuing the higher secondary course have retired during the past few years.

“This has led to the shortage of teachers in most higher secondary schools. For example, in Siliguri educational district (Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district), there is, at best, one teacher of each subject in most of the 67 higher secondary schools,” said a senior teacher in Siliguri.

According to sources, there are around 350 teachers in these schools who take classes in XI and XII. If 250 students take admission in each school in all three streams, there will be around 16,750 students in these Siliguri subdivision schools.

“In each school, we need at least 10 teachers to ensure classes are held properly. Most of these schools in Siliguri have five or six teachers. That is why, at this point, a quick solution is to bring in retired teachers,” a source added.

Once classes start after summer vacation, schools would be asked to trace retired teachers, engage them according to need and give them an honorarium.