Riyaz Bhat
Srinagar, Aug 17: In order to balance the teachers posting and to maintain Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department said that it has started rationalizing extra teachers from the over-served schools and has put them in the deprived ones.
The official documents available reads, “In order to balance the PTR in every school, the UT has made the rationalization of teachers and the extra teachers from the over-served schools and has been put in the deprived ones to ensure that there is no urban-rural imbalance in teacher postings.”
The department informed this to the union education ministry in a response to the queries of last academic year regarding surplus teachers wherein the union government had informed 22 percent schools at primary level and 6 percent schools at Upper Primary level with adverse PTR.
In the previous Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting for considering the Annual work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) for Annual Work Project, MoE has suggested to the Jammu and Kashmir government that in order to balance the PTR in every school, the UT should go for rationalization. “All this could be done by the school level analysis using the latest UDISE data. There are more than 10,000 surplus teachers in the UT.”
It had also suggested the UT to start adequate deployment of teachers by ensuring that the specified pupil teacher ratio is maintained for each school.
However, in the recent PAB meeting of 2023, the Jammu and Kashmir government informed the Ministry of Education (MoE) that it has adopted and implemented School complex System wherein 746 School Complexes have been notified as per NEP 2020, for optimum utilization of resources in a Complex.
“The rationalization of staff is being done and all the institutions shall be provided. The motive is UT of JK has rationalized the teachers within the cluster by empowering Cluster Heads to make best use of men and material available within the cluster,” it reads.
The School Education Department has also said that the move has also helped to improve the PTR, especially at Primary and Elementary level. “Moreover, most of surplus teachers have been adjusted against vacancies through online mode.”
