Basit Parray

Srinagar, Feb 25: Several parents and students on Thursday raised concern with Rising Kashmir that a coaching institute in the Rajbagh area of Srinagar is flouting rules and allowing for ‘overcrowded classrooms’ amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

A visit to a Mission E Coaching institute in Aramwari Rajbagh revealed how 100 to 150 students are being made to sit in one room, and in turn, deprived of individual attention. 

A parent Mohammad Saleem told Rising Kashmir their children are made to sit in overcrowded classrooms, which is a cause of concern. “Our children are made to sit in overcrowded classrooms amid this pandemic with no such care taken to follow the proper SOPs. It worries me as a parent as our children are exposed to much vulnerability,” he said. 

Saleem expressed unhappiness over the matter saying that “they pay a hefty amount of tuition fees to tuition centres but they (tuition centres) have commercialized everything.”

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 in its Schedule lays down Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) for both primary and upper primary schools. The New Education Policy 2020 also focuses heavily on filling vacancies for teachers and also pays attention to an often neglected aspect - the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR).

“100 to 150 students are sitting in the classroom is a huge number especially amid this pandemic. Most of them are seen without wearing masks. When there are 100 to 150 students in a classroom, it is difficult to get proper attention from the teacher,” a student Inam-ul-Haq told Rising Kashmir. 

The owner of the Mission E coaching institute Hamid Mufti, however, said that "they have to accommodate all students, including the underprivileged ones." 

“Our classes are very big, we used to have a roll of 250 students but we have reduced that to 100 odd students, no doubt the number is large but we have to accommodate everyone,” Mufti said. 

“Some coaching centres have a roll of 50 students per class but that has a limitation as well as studying in these coaching centres costs a hefty sum of money,” he said, adding, “We have underprivileged students at our tuition centre and we have to think of them as well.”

While Rising Kashmir raised the concern of flouting of Covid-19 SOPs, Mufti said that "they will try their best to follow the SOPs."

Raising the issue with Director School Education Kashmir Mohammad Younis Malik he said, “We have taken a note of this issue and have directed the authorities to check the overcrowding in these institutes. If we found anything which violated the rules we will surely take action against them”.