Kolkata: State Education minister Partha Chatterjee on Monday said that his department will carry out an online survey involving schools at various levels to ascertain the student-teacher ratio. It is the first step by the School education department towards the rationalisation of teachers in schools. The rationalisation would be done according to the strength of the students. During a question-answer session in the Assembly, the minister pointed out that there are disparities between schools as far as a student-teacher ratio is concerned. "One lakh teachers have been inducted in schools to ensure proper pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) as well as optimum utilisation of the available strength of the teaching faculty in the interest of students. There are still some disparities between schools. An online survey will be conducted to know the status of PTR in various schools. We are trying to address the gaps with the rationalisation of teachers," Chatterjee said. He also said that in some schools the number of students is higher compared to that of the teachers while in few schools the number of students is low. The minister also asserted in the Assembly that not a single school was closed due to the low strength of students. Moreover, as many as 2,975 additional schools have been set up across the state. Chatterjee mentioned about the student-teacher ratio in various levels of school education. In primary level, there are 20 students against one teacher while in case of upper primary, secondary and higher secondary the numbers are 41, 41 and 49 respectively. In reply to a question by a Trinamool Congress MLA, the minister said that in 2019-20 fiscal around 73 secondary schools have been upgraded to higher secondary level. The state education department has started English medium education in 92 government or government-aided schools in the state. When asked if the department has any plans to increase the English medium schools in the state, the minister stated that there were initial plans to start 100 such schools but the department has already set up 111 English medium schools. It would, however, have no impact on the Bengali medium schools. When asked about the mid-day meal in schools, the minister told the House that there is no problem regarding mid-day meals in schools. During his speech, the minister blamed the erstwhile Left Front government for closing down schools one after another.

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