A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday upheld a single judge’s verdict setting aside a provision in the teachers’ package brought by the previous UDF government which stipulated that the Pupil- Teacher- Ratio (PTR) in a school should be taken on the basis of the total student strength of the school.
The Bench comprising Justice Antony Dominic and Dama Seshadri Naidu upheld the verdict of the single judge while dismissing an appeal filed by the State government.
The managements contended that the PTR as provided in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 should be taken on class-wise basis. However, the State government took the stand that the ratio was to be maintained on the basis of the total student strength of a school. The single judge had held that the PTR should be taken on class-wise basis and not school-wise.
The Bench said that Section 19 of the RTE Act provided the norms and standards for schools. The Act had adopted class as the unit.
