Lopsided PTR in schools persists despite Govt's rationalisation claims

Srinagar, Apr 2: The lopsided Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) in government schools continues to be a persistent problem despite government claims of rationalisation of teaching staff in schools. Over the years, the School Education Department (SED) has taken many initiatives to address the problem however the government efforts are yet to prove fruitful as the teachers are disproportionately posted in schools irrespective of the enrollment of the students. Earlier the authorities in the education department claimed that the exercise to rationalize the teaching staff in schools will be completed before the reopening of the schools post winter vacations and adequate staff will be provided to schools. However, the exercise is yet to be completed by the department despite the reopening of schools almost a month ago.

The issue came to limelight recently after a Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) in north Kashmir's Baramulla district inspected a middle school and a primary school.

During the inspection of the ZEO, it came to fore that 12 teachers are posted at the middle school while seven teachers are posted at the primary school.

The revelation started a debate with stakeholders saying that on what basis 12 teachers are posted in a middle school, which ideally requires only eight to nine teachers for all classes including kindergarten. Similarly, a primary school requires five teachers as well. While these two schools in Baramulla outskirts have surplus staff, the schools in rural areas are facing an acute dearth of teaching staff which is taking a toll on the academics of students.

In most of the cases, middle schools in rural areas have four teachers while primary schools have two teachers. "We are trying to rationalize the staff on the basis of student requirements but the influential teachers use their approach to remain posted in nearby schools as per their convenience," an official said. Citing examples, the official said a school in Baramulla outskirts had an enrollment of 43 students and 15 teachers were posted there.

"In comparison to this a school in a rural village has 150 students but only three teachers. And when we tried to rationalize the staff, the influential teachers used their contacts to sabotage the process," the official said. Amid this, many rural schools are still struggling with a shortage of teaching staff. Over the past few years, the Annual Transfer Drive (ATD), aimed at overcoming the alleviating PTR imbalances has failed to deliver the expected results which has left  the rural schools understaffed. The primary and middle schools have become the worst victims of the official neglect as the government has failed to provide adequate teachers to these schools. Given the non availability of the teachers, the student population is witnessing a declining trend in these schools. Amid the lopsided PTR in schools, the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) in December 2024 sought details of class wise Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) of all the government schools.

The issue of  the lopsided PTR was also discussed in the recently held meetings at the Directorate and administrative department as well.  The Chief Education Officers (CEOs) have been directed to furnish school wise PTR and Class-wise (boys/girls) enrollment of all schools. However all these initiatives have failed to address the issue on ground. Minister for education, Sakina Itoo when contacted said the department was making all efforts to rationalise the staff in schools as per the requirement.

"It is a long process and time consuming but we are seriously processing it to ensure that all the schools get adequate staff as per the requirement of students," the Education Minister told Greater Kashmir.