Government schools in Tamil Nadu are facing a major infrastructure and teacher shortage following heavy enrollment of students following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Government schools in the state, which were staring at an imminent shutdown due to paucity of students, were in for a pleasant surprise after the pandemic as students shifted from private schools to government schools.
Sources in the Tamil Nadu School Education Department told IANS that the number of students for classes 2 to 12 in government schools has increased by 6 lakh.
While parents are happy that they do not have to run around for hefty fees from private schools, the high enrollment in government schools has taken a toll on the infrastructure as well as the strength of the teachers.
RK Ravishankar, a small businessman from Chennai, told IANS, “My son is studying in class 6 and I transferred him from a private school where I had to pay a hefty fee. While there is no fee now, I told him about it. The concern is whether the education being given to him is at par with the education he gets in a private school. The government is the government and we don’t know to what extent the teachers are motivated to give their best.
As enrollment increases, each school has more than 300 to 400 students, increasing the number of students in each class by about 30 percent.
With the increase in the number of students, teachers find it difficult to teach more than 60 students in a class which earlier had only 40.
In a government school in Tamil Nadu, students were taught under a tree due to lack of space in the classrooms.
M. Muthupillai, President, TN High School and Higher Secondary School Headmaster/Headmistress Association while talking to IANS said, “You know, only 60 per cent government schools in Tamil Nadu have proper infrastructure. Also, teachers are overloaded. And all the administrative work is being done by the teachers.”
He also said that every school should have a non-teaching staff to conduct the clerical work.
Teachers union leaders also suggested that the government should improve the teacher-student ratio at the primary level to 18:1 from the current 30:1.
However, there is a big difference between the teaching of private schools and government schools.
In English for class 10, private school students scored an average of 57 per cent, while government school students could only touch 35 per cent.
Private school managements are unconcerned about the huge enrollment in government schools from private schools.
The owner of a private school in Madurai told IANS that the parents had to shift their children to government schools as they had no option.
However, many parents are now considering bringing their children back to private schools. The main reason for this is the lack of infrastructure as well as the shortage of staff.
Academics are of the opinion that the students continuing in government schools of Tamil Nadu will benefit well as the government has now introduced 7.5 percent horizontal reservation in vocational courses for the students of government schools in Tamil Nadu. This has helped many students from poor background to get admission in state medical colleges under merit quota.
tamil school education The department has received Rs 100 crore in the state budget to improve cleanliness in government schools. 7000 crores has been allocated to develop the school infrastructure under the Parasiriyar Anbhazhagan School Development Scheme.
Government school teachers are of the opinion that more and more students will join government schools if the government meets the urgent infrastructure requirements including proper seating facilities for children.
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