ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay - The "Santísima Trinidad" National High School in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, is grappling with a severe shortage of teachers in its technical high school program. Since the beginning of the semester, over 200 students have been left without instructors, causing disruptions to the educational process. The school administration is urgently appealing to the Ministry of Education for prompt budget support.

In an interview with local broadcaster GEN, Principal Francisco Rojas stated, "The teacher positions that were temporarily filled by part-time lecturers last year have still not been filled. Parents, students, and even teachers are deeply frustrated by this situation."

The current teacher shortage affects five subjects in the technical high school curriculum. According to the school, these positions became vacant following the retirement of previous teachers, but no announcements for the recruitment of replacements have been made.

Principal Rojas claimed that despite submitting all necessary documents to the Ministry of Education and consistently informing them of the situation, the school has not received any concrete response to resolve the issue. He expressed his frustration, saying, "Even though a budget seems to have been allocated for the vacant teacher positions, there appears to be a lack of funds for teacher recruitment."

There are concerns that if this teacher shortage persists, it will not only infringe upon students' right to learn but also cause serious problems across the entire school operation. The school administration and parents are strongly urging the Ministry of Education to promptly secure the necessary budget, fill the teacher vacancies, and establish a normal educational environment.

A parent representative stated, "Parents are very anxious about the fact that their children are not receiving proper classes. We have filed numerous complaints with the Ministry of Education, but we are frustrated that no clear solution has been presented yet." They also asserted a strong stance, saying, "If the Ministry of Education's action is delayed, parents will not hesitate to take collective action."

Meanwhile, an official from the Ministry of Education stated regarding the situation, "We are aware of the situation at the school and are working to secure the budget. We will do our best to fill the teacher vacancies as soon as possible to ensure that students' learning is not disrupted." However, they did not provide a clear answer regarding the specific timeline for teacher recruitment.

The teacher shortage at the National High School in Asunción has a high possibility of becoming prolonged if the education authorities do not take swift and active measures. It is crucial that the Ministry of Education fulfills its promise to promptly secure the budget and fill the teacher vacancies so that students can concentrate on their studies in a stable environment. Furthermore, there are growing calls to use this incident as an opportunity to review the entire education system and prepare improvement measures.

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