Pupil Teacher Ratio in J&K schools better than other states: MoE
Srinagar, Dec 12: In a latest development, the Ministry of Education (MoE) Government of India (GoI) has revealed that the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) in government schools across Jammu and Kashmir was better as compared to the schools in other States.
This was stated by the minister for education during the ongoing session in the Parliament of India.
As per the official figures of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) MoE, the government schools in Jammu and Kashmir are considered to have comfortable PTR in schools from primary to higher secondary level.
The figures were attributed to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) produced in the Parliament.
As per the official documents, the primary schools in Jammu and Kashmir have PTR of 11:1 while the PTR of upper primary schools is 8:1 and 12:1 at the secondary level.
The government has stated that the government schools in J&K figures ahead of several states with lopsided PTR in schools from primary to secondary level.
The MoE has attributed the better PTR to the distribution of the schools across the district in Jammu and Kashmir and providing easy access to education.
As already reported by this newspaper, the J&K School Education Department (SED) in 2023 officially closed all the merged schools and removed their codes from the UDISE as well.
Following this exercise, the actual number of schools was reduced from 23173 to 18723 across Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the MoE has stated that the J&K has 77483 teachers primary to and secondary level government schools.
Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) Naseer Ahmad Wani when contacted said the overall PTR in schools was good while there were differences in schools located in hilly and plain areas.
"If we calculate the overall PTR in schools it is as per the set norms. There can be differences in some areas but that is because of the topography," DSEK told Greater Kashmir.
He said that Jammu and Kashmir has a different topography and in schools, located in hilly areas of Jammu or Kashmir, the number of students can be less.
"But if we calculate the overall ratio by comparing the total number of teachers and students, the PTR in our schools is better," Wani said.
He said that recently a meeting was convened in central Kashmir's Budgam district wherein it was revealed that the overall PTR in schools is 14:1.
"Similarly in other districts, the PTR is almost the same. Besides the normal sanctioned strength of General Line Teachers, our department has a huge number of ReT teachers as well. We have adequate availability of staff in schools," he said.
He however said that the directorate will utilise the winter vacation months for rationalisation of teaching staff in schools to ensure that the academic session continues smoothly after schools reopen post winter vacations.
"We will ensure that the transfers are done within these two months as per the requirement in the schools," he told Greater Kashmir.
