Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has directed all district Collectors to take necessary steps for immediate deployment of additional teachers in government primary schools that are currently functioning with only one teacher.
The directive issue by the School and Mass Education Department aims to ensure compliance with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, particularly provisions relating to the minimum number of teachers and the prescribed Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) in primary schools.
In a communication to all district collectors, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department, N Thirumala Naik has asked them to accord the issue top priority and complete the exercise within a month.
Data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) indicates that a significant number of government primary schools across Odisha are still being managed by a single teacher, officials said.
The department observed that such a situation can adversely affect the quality of teaching and is not in conformity with the provisions of the RTE Act.
Under Sections 19 and 25 of the RTE Act, primary schools are required to maintain prescribed standards, including minimum teacher strength and the stipulated pupil-teacher ratio.
The district collectors have been asked to immediately review the status of all single-teacher schools in their respective districts. Wherever necessary, teachers are to be rationalised, transferred or deployed to ensure the minimum required teacher strength in every school.
Schools with a higher student enrolment are to be given priority while deploying additional teachers. The rationalisation process for single-teacher schools should be completed within one month.
The district collectors have also been asked to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 15 days of receiving the directive, detailing the measures taken to address the issue.