1:1

Amidst the winding travel to a Polling station today, I spotted a Upper Primary School disguised behind the woods. A small building with three rooms and minimal furniture. The absence of murmur was quite conspicuous. Upon visitation, I found there were 4 teachers and only 4 students. In one of the rooms was sitting this little girl trying to understand nuances of geometry all by herself. She hesitated to introduce herself courtesy the perpetual loneliness of the class room.

"Most of the students have joined this private school nearby", said one of the teachers. Saddened by the sight of this lone girl in the entire classroom, I remembered visiting schools where Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) went up to 70:1 because of vacant teacher positions. But I never thought I would come across something like this. It is high time that we rationalize all such schools integrating smaller ones into bigger ones. Clubbing such schools would save resources and give these children an environment where they can learn from peers and evolve socially as well.

A PTR of 1:1 is a distinction we must do away with!