Low pupil-teacher ratio rings the alarm bell in Telangana schools

Despite Right to Education 2009 Act norms of 30:1 at primary level and 35:1 at upper primary level, the current pupil-teacher ratio shows a worrisome situation

Hyderabad: The low pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) is ringing the alarm bell in schools across Telangana. As per the norms of the Right to Education 2009 Act, the PTR should be 30:1 at primary level and 35:1 at the upper primary level, the current ratio reflects a different situation.

As per the recent Telangana Statistical Abstract released by the Telangana Development Planning Society, Planning Department, the PTR at the primary level is 21:1, while it is 16:1 at the upper primary level. As for high schools, the PTR is 22:1 as against the norm of 30:1.

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At the primary level, 22 districts have a PTR of less than or equal to the State average, while same is the situation for upper primary level in 21 districts and 23 districts at the high school level.

These figures are largely attributed to a significant drop in school enrolments over the years. According to officials, the enrolment in the government schools dropped by 2 lakh during this academic year and in the last 10 years, enrolments came down by around 9 lakh, leaving more teachers and fewer students.

Another reason behind the poor PTR, according to teachers, is the imbalance of teacher strength in schools as per the enrolment. They say some schools with 60 enrolments have four-five teachers, while schools with high enrolment are understaffed leading to an imbalance of the PTR.

However, some educators contended that lower PTR helps teachers focus better on each student. “The government needs to regulate teachers as per the strength in schools. Moreover, in the last 10 years, nearly eight lakh students moved from public to private schools. This has also resulted in low PTR,” said Chava Ravi, president of Telangana United Teachers’ Federation.

New DSC notification unlikely
With schools recording lower PTR than the prescribed norms and fewer enrollments, the District Selection Committee (DSC) notification for fresh teachers’ recruitment in government and local body schools is unlikely to be notified any time soon.

Despite the Telangana government assuring to notify 6,000 teacher vacancies, there are concerns that the recruitment drive may not materialise as teachers are already more in number while the schools are witnessing a drop in enrolment every year.

As many as 11,062 teacher vacancies have already been recruited, taking the total teacher count in government and local body schools to 1.13 lakh. In addition, the Education Department recently issued orders appointing 1,382 candidates belonging to DSC 2008 as teachers.