Excess teachers in Tamil Nadu, but not enough to teach students

Although Tamil Nadu boasts of an enviable overall teacher-student ratio of 1:23 in its government schools, a look beyond the numbers shows a very different picture.

The school education department has revised the teacher-student ratio in 2019, mandating a ratio of 1:30 for elementary education, 1:35 for middle school, 1:40 for high school and 1:60 for higher secondary. Ground reality may make it difficult to implement.

While the overall number of teachers to overall number of students appears favourable, the truth is that there are single classrooms with 60 or even 75 children with one teacher in one part of the state, while in another there may be an entire school of 60 students with 6 or 7 teachers.

According to a report by ‘Anaivarukkum Kalvi Iyakkam’ (Sarva Siksha Abhiyan ) there are 3,003 government schools which run with less than 15 students. These schools would have a teacher each. This clumping of teachers means that they are not efficiently deployed.

Typically, the student-teacher ratio is high at the elementary level. But at the secondary and higher secondary levels, the ratio comes down. This could be owing to two factors – dearth of teachers and the drop in enrolment to government schools. For example, around 30 per cent of Class 10 and Class 12 students are forced to prepare for some subjects on their own, as there are no subject teachers available. At times, teachers not trained in the subject are forced to teach, impacting the learning outcomes.

On the other hand, government sources say there is surplus of about 12,000 teachers in the system owing to the increasing number of children moving from government schools to private schools. Ironically, there are huge teacher vacancies in the state.

“There are 80,000 teacher vacancies in Tamil Nadu. Recently, vacant teacher posts in elementary and middle schools have been reduced by 10,000. Teacher shortage is more in tiny hamlets and in hilly areas,” says R Doss, General Secretary, Aramba Palli Asiriyar Kootani.

In many schools, teachers are appointed through the Parent Teacher Association on a contractual basis for a paltry sum of Rs 10,000, which is less than the sum drawn by a daily wage worker.

There are no basic infrastructural facilities like water, electricity and toilets, in most schools. In many schools, students don’t prefer to use toilets due to lack of water facilities and resist the urge to answer nature’s call and wait till they get home, leading to severe health complications. There is also a general lack of sanitation in the school premises, causing health problems.

Existing teachers also find it difficult to handle latest upgraded syllabus in Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Science.

Some teachers do not come to school regularly. Even if they come they either sign the attendance register or record their attendance through biometric system and go out and return in the evening only to complete their routine for the day, complain government school students.

There are also complaints of teachers browsing mobile phones while on duty, refusing to take time off to even answer queries.

This skewed distribution of teachers also prompted the government to recently announce its decision to close schools with very poor enrolment. However, children in remote areas served by these small schools will have nowhere to turn if they do not have a school.

When questioned about this on the floor of the Assembly, Education Minister, K A Sengottaiyan said, “The decision to close 1,248 government schools and convert them into libraries are just rumours. Only 48 government schools will be closed and converted into libraries as student enrolment in these schools is nil. Efforts are also on to attract students and reopen these schools in six months time.”

Within days of the minister’s denial, six government schools were closed in the Niligiris district and tea plantation workers say the district education office is planning to close another 13 government schools. Responding to this, the minister said that the government has contacted the district education office and has asked for an explanation regarding the closure of schools.

Former union minister Pon Radhakrishnan has demanded a white paper on the closure of government schoolsin Tamil Nadu.

In Tiruvallur district, in the last 20 years, around 100 government schools, seven to eight per panchayat union, have been closed and the news of it only broke when media and social activists spoke about it.

Student strength in government schools 15 years ago was 70 lakh but according to government records, last year the strength was 46,60,965, of which 2,47,629 students have left government schools this year.

Education in government schools is supposed to be free, but in some schools, headmasters enforce compulsory donations. The Pallikaranai Government School is a case in point where the headmaster collected donations from the parents of poor students Student strength in the school came down from 3,000 to below 800 now. Following complaints and an RTI application, details were collected but the headmaster was transferred to another school, not punished. There are reports of donations being collected in government-aided schools too.

Though there is a system and officers are in place at each level to monitor government schools and teachers, not many erring teachers are brought to book.

Many teachers complain that they are not allowed to do their work and are deputed for other administrative work. Further, they are made to take part in the government’s statistical work.

Teachers, who have restrictions on how they deal with errant students, find it hard to control the students and they feel that they have been deprived of their rights over students.

Social issues such as alcoholism in the family and the increasing prevalence of alcoholism in the student community have also had a negative impact on education.

The state is offering 14 different kinds of freebies to government school students which include, uniforms, textbooks, diaries, school bags, pencils and crayons, laptops, geometry boxes, bicycle, atlas, free bus pass, special incentives, funds for father-less students, and a nutritious meal. Although freebies are available, basic infrastructure is neglected, say students.

Offering freebies has only encouraged malpractices and that is the reason why every year those at the helm of the affairs are breaking their heads to introduce new freebie even before students ask for it. The equipment bought for science and physics labs amounting to Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 for a set is of poor quality, say government school teachers.

For the past few years, the state government has been providing financial assistance to private educational institutions to accommodate 25 per cent of students from poor households. But there are complaints that the amount is not reaching the deserving. With a substantial amount being diverted to the cause, the state finds it difficult to allocate funds for infrastructure development in government schools. Also, the government is not able to provide the assistance to aided institutions. As a result, aided institutions are facing a severe crunch for the past five years with no funds for administrative expenses, in addition to shortage of teachers. It has resulted in declining student strength in aided schools. Whereas, students enrolment in private schools is on the rise. This year alone, student strength in government and aided schools have come down by 4,15,558. But in private schools the strength has increased by 12 lakh.

“So far, nearly two lakh students studying in private institutions have many benefited from this scheme. In a way, it is like government declaring that standard of education is not up to the mark in the state-run schools,” say social activists.

“Unless government stops funding private institutions for the education of 25 per cent of poor students, it is impossible to upgrade government schools and increase student strength. In Kerala, children of government employees and MLAs study in government schools and if the same is followed in Tamil Nadu all the problems faced by the state-run schools would be solved,” says educationalist, Prince Gajendrababu.

Efforts are also on in recent times to introduce English education from the elementary level. It has increased student enrolment to a certain extent. But teachers who can teach in English have not been appointed and the existing faculty are being utilised. The mission has ended in failure. Most secondary grade teachers do not know how to handle kids. Lack of helpers in elementary schools, where children need help with toilet training, has earned the displeasure of parents.

According to a survey conducted by Samakalvi Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation, around 10 per cent of the students are platform dwellers, 20 per cent live in hutments and others reside in Slum Clearance Board houses and in slums. Their parents are daily wage labourers. Only two per cent of students are children of government employees and they also study in government schools that are well known. On another axis, 56 per cent of students are from the SC category, 7-8 per cent belong to the ST category, 30 per cent from the BC and MBC categories. The rest is taken up by other categories.

Braving widespread corruption and negligence, some government schools have performed well. In the past few years some schools have secured 90 per cent success rate in the high school and higher secondary board examinations. Over 900 high schools have achieved 100 per cent pass. Students have also secured centums in subjects. There is usually a lot of competition to get admission in such schools. In Chennai, government schools in Ashok Nagar, Kodambakkam and Nungambakkam are performing extremely well.

Till 1977, school education was under State’s list but after it was transferred to the Concurrent list, the dominance of private schools reared its head gradually. Initially, parents hesitated to admit their children in private schools because government schools were functioning effectively. Over the years, as the standard of education came down in government schools, parents turned their attention to private schools.

At the same time, there are instances when closed government schools were reopened and student enrolments improved.

In Theempatti Village near Kotagiri in Nilgiris district, a government school, which was closed 17 years ago was reopened recently with the help of the locals with the student strength of 46. Similarly, a government school in Thayarsahib Street, Chepauk in Chennai which was closed some years ago, was reopened following sustained pressure from the school’s Parent Teacher Association members and now it is functioning effectively with few a hundred students.

Stakeholders of those schools - teachers, students, parents and locals should come forward and take over the maintenance in the event of closure. If the school is closed the community must take the responsibility to re-open them.