STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: In a Public Interest Litigation filed by All Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh Teacher Federation seeking directions to Union Territory for framing policy for maintaining student-teacher ratio in the schools without any discrimination and implement the same in true letter and spirit, a Division Bench of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court comprising Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sanjay Dhar after hearing Senior Advocate Pranav Kohli with Adv Farhan Mirza for PIL whereas AAG Ravinder Gupta for the UT, directed to file status report in respect of various infrastructure projects mentioned therein, as it is not clear whether those projects have been completed. DB further directed AAG to file status report indicating progress in the student-teacher ratio, both in urban and rural areas.
In the PIL, it has been submitted that issues regarding transfers of the teachers, which are made so casually by Head of the Department that sometimes, a school having a meager strength of children gets teachers whose number exceeds children studying in schools. On the other hand, the schools which are situated at a far off distance remained deprived of adequate number of teachers with; the result the next generation remains deprived of its fundamental right, i.e. Right to Education merely because of corrupt, vested interest of some of the officers. As per petitioner’s information, the student-teacher ratio in schools, which are located in the cities is much more than the ratio in villages. Moreover, the infrastructure of majority of the schools is in depilated conditions, and no steps are being taken by the concerned authorities in this regard, by siphoning off funds sanctioned for the said purpose. The Petitioner has raised its concern before concerned authorities time and again but action has been taken till date.