Jamshedpur: Inured by the absence of teachers for years, some students of a village school in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand state have learnt to score well in board exams without them.

Eighty-five students of Utkramit Uchcha Vidyalaya in Chakri village, 35 km from Jamshedpur, the nearest city, were among the 400,000 matriculation students in one of the worst years for Jharkhand Academic Council.

But, 55 of them passed the state board exams when the results came out on May 20.

Three girls and two boys got a first division.

The co-educational institution’s performance is below the state’s matriculation pass average of 67.54 percent. However, the school with 455 students has had no high school teacher for years.

The school has managed with parateachers, who are supposed to teach at the primary level. This February, a few days before matriculation exams, a middle school teacher was appointed. In April, two more middle school teachers joined.

None of them is supposed to teach in tenth and twelfth grades. The village school, with a sprawling campus, has 18 sanctioned teaching posts.

Suraj Sardar, the school’s topper, with a creditable 68.2 percent (341 out of 500), disclaimed any extraordinary feat when asked how he managed without teachers. He said his family could afford “a good tutor” since his class had no teachers.

“Here in the village, we have many graduates who have a firm grasp on mathematics and science subjects. Plus, I studied on my own and solved test papers diligently,” he added.

The other four first division scorers also spoke glowingly about studying on their own and “every cooperation” from educated elders in this village of rice paddy farmers.

Praising the five children, Purushottam Sardar, head of Chakri village, commended students for their hard work although they had no guidance from the school. “But not all children are the same. Their abilities and degrees of self-motivation vary. Many children have not made it because there was no one in school to guide them,” he added.

Nikhil Mandal, president of an outfit of primary school teachers, said many students would have performed better in matriculation exam if they had proper teachers. “Children who scored above 60 percent in this dismal scenario could have really excelled with proper guidance. Blame it on the state government or district education department that these students did not get proper coaching,” he said.

East Singhbhum district education officer Mukesh Kumar Sinha said they were doing their best to appoint teachers in village schools. “We agree there is a shortage but that will be taken care of soon so that students can do better,” he told The Telegraph newspaper of Kolkata.