Class XI: 1,500 seats, only 500 applicants; UT to optimise pupil-teacher ratio

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, September 18

The UT Education Department is planning to optimise the class size in accordance with the prescribed norm of maintaining 40 students per class. As part of this plan, excess students of Class XI in a government school will be relocated to other schools to align with the pupil-teacher ratio as stipulated by the National Education Policy (NEP).

During the third counselling session for Class XI admissions, only 500 applicants have come forward to fill more than 1,500 available seats.

In line with national Education Policy

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It has come to our attention that in many government schools, there are surplus students per section. Our objective is to reorganise students in line with the pupil-teacher ratio norm. —Harsuhinder Pal S Brar, Director, School Education

Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar, Director, School Education, said, “For the third counselling, we had invited applications from students who were unable to secure their preferred choice of academic stream. We have received approximately 500 applications. Our objective now is to reorganise students in line with the pupil-teacher ratio norm. It has come to our attention that many government school students have chosen humanities stream, resulting in surplus students per section in a few schools. We will now focus on relocating students from such schools to other schools.”

This year marked a significant change in the Class XI admission process as the department reserved 85 per cent of the total seats for Class X pass-outs from UT government schools. The remaining 15 per cent seats were made available to those from private schools within the city as well as from other states and boards.

As per the NEP, 2020, the recommended pupil-teacher ratio for schools is 30:1 at the primary level and 35:1 at the upper primary level. However, this ratio can vary depending on the state and local considerations and the NEP allows flexibility to states and union territories to adjust PTR based on their specific needs and resources. The goal is to maintain a conducive learning environment with an appropriate teacher-student ratio to ensure quality education.