Port Blair, Aug. 7: The School Girls of the Port Blair hostel are in the state of absolute jeopardy, as no qualified person is there to take care of them in the hostel as warden. Recently the Girls School administration has issued an order, putting all the teachers of the school on the duty of warden ship, regularly, one by one.  Some teachers find it comfortable but majority did not appreciate it..

As per the order issued by the Principal, Girls School, all the teachers of the school are put on duty, periodically. There are lady teachers, whose husbands are posted in the outer Islands. In the absence of their husbands these teachers are already overburdened with their household works; taking care of their children, teaching them, getting them ready for the school, etc. In such a situation it becomes really difficult for them to take up the responsibility of a responsible post of ‘warden’.

Moreover the job of a warden is specialized one. It needs the skills of psychological and sociological aptitude, to deal with the children living in the hostel, away from their parents. But it is an irony that for the education department it is hardly a matter of concern, which reflects through the recent order to appoint wardens on shift basis.

Due to this casual approach of the department, many guardians now prefer to keep their daughters outside the hostel, as they seem to have lost confidence on the hostel administration. Moreover the ‘Girls Hostel’ had already earned a bad reputation as there were reports wherein the inmates were forced into immoral acts by certain unscrupulous  elements who were entrusted the responsibility to take care of the inmates.

It can only be hoped that the Directorate of Education would take the matter seriously and make arrangements to appoint a regular warden, who is competent enough to handle the post. Any further neglect in this matter may complicate things and lead to serious issues for which the Directorate will be responsible.