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Schools in India directed to admit not more than 40 students in each class
The Mumbai civic body, BMC has directed schools to strictly implement the student teacher ration mandated under the RTE Act 2009. It may affect the fee structure of some schools considering the added demand for teachers and infrastructure.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) primary education department will now permit schools to admit only 40 students per class. The new rule has been introduced to be in alignment with the Right To Education (RTE) Act 2009 rule on student-teacher ratio which is expected to be 40:1 in each class, from classes I to VIII.
From the academic year 2016-17 onwards, 150 schools affiliated to Archdiocesan Board of Education (ABE) will be the first ones to abide by this ratio rule. The ABE has already issued a directive asking its schools to admit only 40 students per class right from kindergarten onwards.
"As our schools currently have 60 to 70 students per class, it was not possible for us to implement the new ratio immediately. So, we have decided to begin with junior and senior kindergarten classes this year," said Father Francis Swamy, joint secretary of the ABE.
However, implementing this directive may not be all roses for schools. It is expected to throw up some problems.
"This year, we received 750 applications from pre-primary students, but our intake has reduced from 120 to 80 seats in pre-primary. While we used to admit 60 students per class earlier, we will now only be able to accommodate 40," said Father Jude Fernandes, principal, St. Mary's school (SSC) Mazgaon
Another major player with many schools and thousands of students, Indian Education Society (IES) Group of schools will follow the rule from academic year 2017-2018.
"The government will have to create more schools as the number of students per school will be restricted. Besides, there is no scope to increase the number of classrooms in every school," said Satish Nayak, IES Group
It is noteworthy that CBSE, ICSE and IGCSE schools will not be affected much by the introduction of this rule, since the number of students in each class already falls mostly in the category mandated by the RTE act, other schools might have their fee affected to keep at pace with yearlong monetary sufficiency for educational facilities.