Student-teacher ratio high at secondary level: Report

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 22

The required student-teacher ratio in government secondary schools, according to the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) framework, should be 30:1. But it is 51:1 for languages, 102:1 for mathematics, 165:1 for social studies and 237:1 for science.

Besides, 636 posts of teacher and 867 of Headmaster are vacant at the secondary level.

This and many other facts came to light in the minutes of a meeting of the Project Approval Board (PAB), which has cleared the annual work plan and budget for 2020-21 for Haryana. The meeting took place in May, but the minutes were made public recently.

The PAB claims the state has 2,237 surplus teachers at the elementary level, while 2,959 posts are lying vacant.

Dr Mahavir Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) School Education, said, “The state government had reduced the student-teacher ratio from 30:1, which is mandatory under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, to 25:1 so that guest teachers could be accommodated. That is why the PAB’s evaluation shows that some schools have more than the required number of teachers. The reality is different. There are no surplus teachers at the elementary level.”

On the recruitment of teachers, he said about 3,000 posts are locked in a legal battle.

As for the 21 District Institutes of Education and Training in the state, only 163 posts of faculty out of 525 (25 posts per DIET) are filled. The PAB said the posts needed to be filled on priority as it was impacting the Performance Grading Index of Haryana. The Ministry of Human Resource and Development evaluates school education in states and UTs through this index.

The situation with regard to Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) is equally bad. “In all, 3,825 (51.13 per cent of the total) seats are lying vacant in 46 KGBVs. Besides, 26 KGBVs are yet to be started,” the PAB said in the minutes of the meeting.

The KGBVs are residential schools for girls from disadvantaged groups for Classes VI to XII.

On sports and physical education, the PAB pointed out that the “grant has not been utilised by the state for the past two years”.

In 2019-20, more than 6,000 children were found to be out of school. “The state should develop a mechanism to track out-of-school children once the identified ones are enrolled in classes according to their age,” the PAB said.

A budget of Rs 1,510.88 crore has been approved for Haryana for 2020-21, out of which Rs 825.38 crore will be provided by the Centre. Last year, the budget was of Rs 1,299.78 crore.

Poor state of affairs

• Only 163 posts of faculty out of 525 in District Institutes of Education and Training are filled
• In all, 3,825 seats lying vacant in 46 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas
• In 2019-20, more than 6,000 children were found to be out of school
• The grant for sports and physical education has not been utilised for the past two years