Sabbir Ibne Siddique, Hatiya (Noakhali)

The bell rings, and students quickly file into their classrooms. They open their books and notebooks, waiting eagerly for their teachers.

However, even well past the scheduled time, no educator arrives for several classes. Elsewhere, a single teacher is forced to manage multiple sections simultaneously, while classes for key subjects are missed altogether. For thousands of students in Hatiya, sitting idle inside classrooms has become a daily routine.

This dismal scene reflects the long-standing crisis across major government educational institutions in the offshore island upazila of Hatiya, Noakhali. An acute shortage of teaching staff has severely disrupted academic activities, leaving students under immense pressure—particularly in critical subjects like Bangla, English, Mathematics, Science, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

At Hatiya Island Government College, the crisis starts at the very top: both crucial administrative posts—Principal and Vice-Principal—remain vacant. Among the faculty, out of 8 Associate Professor posts, only 2 are filled; 13 out of 15 Assistant Professor posts are vacant; and only 11 Lecturers are working against 24 sanctioned positions. Overall, only 15 teachers are currently deployed against 47 sanctioned teaching posts, leaving 32 positions vacant. With remaining educators overwhelmed by extra lectures and administrative duties, subjects like English, Islamic History, and ICT suffer from a severe lack of regular instruction.

A student of the college, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed deep concern: "We are children of an isolated island, and we want to achieve good results to pursue higher education. But without regular classes, preparing for exams is extremely tough. When one teacher has to manage multiple classes or extra duties, we are deprived of the quality education we deserve."

The situation is even more critical at Hatiya Town Government Girls' High School, where only 3 teachers are currently working against 27 sanctioned positions. Managing academic instruction, examinations, continuous evaluation, and daily administration for hundreds of female students with just three teachers has created an untenable operational challenge. Core subjects like Bangla, English, and Mathematics remain largely unassigned.

Acting Headmaster Md. Sohel Uddin said, running the workload of 27 people with three teachers is an impossible challenge, though they are trying their best within extreme limitations.

A similar plight exists at Oshkhali Khan Saheb Chhaidia (KSH) Govt High School, where only 8 teachers are working against 27 sanctioned positions, leaving 19 posts vacant. Key subjects including Bangla, English, and Science lack required teaching staff.

Headmaster Ariful Maowla emphasized that limited manpower makes it impossible to cover all subjects, urging immediate recruitment to ensure continuous education for island students.

Unlike students on the mainland, youth in isolated coastal areas like Hatiya have minimal access to alternative learning resources such as coaching centers, private tutors, or stable high-speed internet. When a teacher post sits vacant, that academic loss remains entirely uncompensated. Former Principal of Hatiya College, Md. Enamul Huq, noted that prolonged teacher shortages break the continuity of learning, leaving island students at high risk of falling permanently behind their mainland peers.

Educational experts stress that modern infrastructure and technology cannot deliver quality education without qualified subject-specific teachers.

Stakeholders argued that a permanent solution requires special deployment and retention policies for remote belts, dedicated housing facilities, subject-specific recruitment, and routine academic inspection.