The Kerala School Teachers’ Association (KSTA) has demanded that the teacher-student ratio of 1:40 be restored to protect teachers.
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A statement from the KSTA State committee here on Thursday said that earlier, if posts were lost owing to a fall in the number of students in high school (Classes IX and X) in aided schools, the government extended protection to teachers. This had continued till 1997. Later, the teachers’ bank came into being, and they received only the basic salary. The LDF government then took steps to protect teachers with all benefits and extended protection to them till 2014-15. As a result, even if a post was lost in an aided school owing to a drop in student numbers, a teacher could continue in the same school.
As per the Right to Education Act, the teacher-student ratio in lower primary is 1:30 and in upper primary 1:35. In Classes IX and X, it is 1:45. However, to protect high school teachers in the aided sector, a concessional ratio of 1:40 was allowed for staff fixation. This had been followed for nearly two decades. This waiver was extended every year through orders, said the KSTA.
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However, to redeploy protected teachers, the government had been making appointments in the 1:1 ratio (one post for management, one for government) in aided schools. Protected teachers who lost their posts were included in the teachers’ bank and posted to some other aided school, it said.
Without teachers for redeployment in the wake of this arrangement, the government earlier this month decided to revise the 1:40 teacher-student ratio in high school to 1:45 and strip teachers of this long-standing benefit. Only teachers appointed till 2014-15 would receive the protection benefit, the KSTA said, adding that those appointed after this would have to go out of service if student strength fell and a post was lost even if they had put in years of service.
The number of teachers receiving this benefit was not very large, the KSTA said, while pointing out that staff fixation should not become a means to throw out teachers.
The KSTA statement demanded that the government re-examine the order.