RTE norms given the go-by

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19

The authorities concerned have failed to ensure the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) and the student-classroom ratio (SCR) at many government schools in the city. This is a clear violaton of the Right to Education Act.

This is due to the paucity of space for instructional purposes and a shortage of teachers.According to the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan report tabled for the project approval board (PAB) meeting for 2019-19, there are 23 per cent primary schools with adverse PTR and 40.70 per cent primary schools with adverse SCR in the UT.

Consequently, many schools in peripheral areas have been running in two shifts owing to increasing enrollment. With strength of over 1,000 students, the Government Senior Secondary School, Behlana, is running in two shifts. During the morning shift, as many as 500 students from Classes VI to XII attend classes and 450 students of primary classes come in the evening shift. There are 11 classrooms for primary classes, thereby aggravating the SCR to 40:1.

A primary teacher of GSSS, Behlana, said: “Sometimes, the SCR is violated due to a shortage of teachers as well. There is only one teacher for Class I with 60 students. All students are made to sit together during the class. Likewise, there are only two teachers for Class II with 82 students. If one teacher goes for a leave, another one has to teach all students at once.”

Saroj Mittal, Deputy Director of the School Education, said: “There is a problem of adverse ratio in the periphery schools as the enrollment of students is more and space is less. As many as five new buildings of government schools will be constructed in the periphery region and students will be shifted there.”

Major areas of concern

• 23 per cent primary schools with adverse PTR
• 40.70 per cent primary schools with adverse SCR
• Over 600 posts of teacher vacant under the SSA

What is PTR, SCR

Student-classroom ratio is the number of students per classrooms, whereas pupil-teacher ratio is the number of students per teacher. As per the Right to Education (RTE) Act, an ideal PTR for Classes I to VIII is 30:1. The ideal SCR is 30:1