Srinagar, Feb 16: With the new cluster system of schools in place, the government is trying to rectify the skewed teacher-pupil ratio in government schools of Kashmir.
The School Education Department (SED) is hopeful that before the new academic session, the staff in the schools will be rationalized if the proposal framed by the cluster heads will be approved.
Chief Education Officer, Srinagar, Shabir Ahmad said that for rationalization of teaching staff, a cluster system of schools is in place.
Under the new cluster system of schools, the concerned principal of the higher secondary school acted as complex head for the schools located in its jurisdiction and had been given the power for rationalization of the teaching staff in the school.
“The cluster heads have made the proposal which has been forwarded to the Joint Director. This issue will be resolved once the proposal is approved. The preparations are going on and before the starting of the new academic session, the issue will be resolved,” he said.
Earlier, as per the requirement in the schools, the rationalization and deployment of teachers was done by the concerned Zonal Education Officer at zonal level.
While talking to several teachers, it was revealed that in Srinagar district, in the heart of the city, a middle school has 15 teachers against 30 students. In one of the zones of district Baramulla, a middle school having 51 students has 12 teachers posted. A school in Tangmarg has 3 teachers for 8 students. The teachers in some of the schools are surplus whereas schools in the peripheral or far-flung areas remain understaffed.
A teacher said, “In urban areas, the staff is surplus whereas in rural areas, the staff is deficient. Some teachers, having access to the power corridors, get themselves posted in the schools that fall within their area. Due to the adverse TPR, the students suffer.”
The official document by the Ministry of Education revealed that there are 10,000 surplus teachers in the Union Territory (UT). It also said that 22 percent of schools at Primary Level and six percent at Upper Primary Level schools have either surplus teachers or a deficit of students.
