School in UP becomes bar

Children sent outside while teacher parties with guests

When the officials in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district, about 400 kilometres from here, reached the primary school at a village, they got the shock of their life on Wednesday. Instead of chorus of children learning the tables and reading books, they found some people drinking alcohol.

The teacher identified as Vinay Kumar Upadhyay, who had been posted at the primary school in Hit Ka Pura village, had virtually turned the school into a bar and was found entertaining his guests at a liquor party.

And all this was happening while the children were studying on the ground just outside the classrooms.

The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Brajpal Singh who came to the school for an inspection with his subordinates caught Upadhyay red-handed. The teacher is a shikshamitra or a temporary teacher.

He was handed over to police immediately and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, according to reports. The SDM has also recommended the education department to take a stern action against him.

Upadhyay told the official that he had brought guests to the school as he could not have offered them liquor at his home.

Only recently, the basic education officials in the state had initiated action against two temporary teachers, after they were found busy swearing about their love for each other rather than teaching students at a primary school in Aligarh district.

The two teachers, who had been teaching there for the last four years, had fallen in love and used to spend hours together.

On some occasions, the villagers also caught them sitting together in some secluded place, leaving the class unattended.

Primary education is in shambles in UP. There is an acute shortage of trained teachers and the government is compelled to appoint shikshamitras to tide over the teaching staff crunch.